The Strict Attention That You Thousands Paid...

The strict attention that you thousands paid to the remarks of David Cragun and Matthew Simmons tonight bears testimony to your pride in these young men who represented the young men of the Church, and you got their message. The remarks given by Brother Sill confirming the value of self-control sank deep in your hearts. The testimonies of the Presidents of the Church left a lasting impression upon us all. ¶

In conclusion, I have just a word on the topic that the boys of the priesthood have given to us tonight. ¶

A man who cannot control his temper is not very likely to control his passions, and no matter what his pretensions in religion, he moves in daily life very close to the animal plane. Religion is supposed to lift us on a higher level. Religion appeals to the spirit in man, your real person, and yet how often, notwithstanding our possessing a testimony of the truth, we yield to the carnal side of our nature. ¶

The man who quarrels in his home banishes from his heart the spirit of religion. A man or a mother in this Church who would light a cigaret in the home is yielding to the carnal side of his nature — far, far below the ideal of the Church. Any quarreling in the home is antagonistic to the spirituality which Christ would have us develop within us, and it is in our daily lives that these expressions have their effect. ¶

Man is making great progress in science and invention, greater perhaps than ever before, but he is not making comparable progress in character and spirituality. ¶

A while ago I read the remarks of General Omar N. Bradley, formerly Army's Chief of Staff, who on one occasion said, and I quote: ¶

"With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescence. Our knowledge of science has clearly outstripped our capacity to control it. We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death." (Italics added.) ¶

I am still quoting the general: "The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace; more about killing than we know about living." ¶

Our living comes hourly and daily in the home, in our association in business affairs, and in our meeting of strangers. It is the attitude of the person during the daily contacts by which we show whether we are appealing to the carnal or to the spiritual within us and within those with whom we associate. It is a daily matter. I do not know whether we can get the thought over or not. It is within the power of each one, especially members of the Church who make such pretensions. You cannot imagine a real true Christian, and especially a member of the Mormon Church, one who holds the priesthood, swearing at his wife. It is inconceivable that such a thing as that could be in a home, and especially with children around. How can anyone justify parents quarreling in front of children? Such a thing should never be a part of the life of church members. ¶

Christ has asked us to develop the spiritual within us. Man's earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul, upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical nature, or whether he will make as his life's pursuit the acquisition of spiritual qualities. ¶

"Every noble impulse, every unselfish expression of love; every brave suffering for the right; every surrender of self to something higher than self; every loyalty to an ideal; every unselfish devotion to principle; every helpfulness to humanity; every act of self-control; every fine courage of the soul, undefeated by pretense or policy, but by being, doing, and living of good for the very good's sake — that is spirituality." ¶

God help us as members of the priesthood to make that life ours individually, in the home, in the towns, in our nation, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶