My Brothers And Sisters This Is Indeed...

My brothers and sisters, this is indeed humbling. I am grateful for this opportunity to stand in your presence, to feel of your spirit, and to partake of the sweet message from our living prophet this morning. For many, many years I have listened with you to the counsel and inspiration of these brethren who sit before us, and particularly to our living prophet, as they have sought an interest in our faith and prayers and have asked that our Heavenly Father give them the guidance and direction that is needed. Now I know in a small way why this is so significant as I attempt to relate to you a few of the inner feelings of my heart concerning this great gospel of Jesus Christ. I was deeply touched by the message of our prophet this morning as he conveyed to us the inner feelings of his heart, acquired through not only many years of experience but also knowing and loving people and being in constant tune with the living God. ¶

Have you ever noticed that whenever a person seems out of sorts or somewhat cantankerous, we often say, "He got up on the wrong side of the bed." Were you ever accused of having such an attitude? ¶

A few months ago I was close to having "one of those days." It came about in this way: ¶

A Chain of Events Shatters Rest About midnight I received a telephone call from one of the teachers in our Institute of Religion program, which I was co-ordinating at the time, and he reported that he couldn't possibly teach his early morning class the next day because of ill health. He wondered if I would teach it for him. ¶

I assured him I would and told him not to worry, though I wondered how adequately the material could be prepared in the time left that night to meet the challenge of the group. After hanging up, I immediately started to prepare my lesson and finally at 2 am, not being able to see the words on the page, I went to bed. Needless to say I was tired and in need of a good night's sleep. I didn't stand much chance of getting it, however, since the class next morning met at 7 am and was thirty miles from home, all of which required that I get up at five o'clock. This meant only three hours of sleep at the most. ¶

Shortly after going to bed, and not having quite fallen asleep, I was brought back to reality by my fouryear-old youngster who insisted that she have a drink of water — she simply could not get along without it until morning. So, after a hard struggle, I pulled myself together, secured the drink of water, and went back to bed only to be awakened a few moments later by another daughter who had just experienced a horrible nightmare. Her anxious summons brought me to my feet in a hurry, and in my excitement to answer her call, I failed to turn on the hall light. As I made my way in the dark, I was suddenly stopped in my journey by a door that had been left ajar. After a few seconds and with a newly acquired bump, I hastened to her side and gave the comfort that was needed. ¶

Once again I crawled back between the warm covers with a hope that the remaining hours would give peace and rest, only to be brought slyly and slowly back to life by my wife who had been awakened by the previous interruptions. ¶

She had just remembered that she needed the car the next morning for her church assignment and was wondering what arrangements could be made in order that we both might meet our appointments. When the problem was finally solved, it was three o'clock, and when, shortly after, the alarm rang at five, you can imagine how I felt. After such a night I was getting up on the wrong side of the bed, and my attitude was not the kind that should be taken into a class of religion. ¶

Gloom Dispelled — Brightness Restored: ¶

"You Are the Best Daddy" ¶

And then it happened — the little thing that changed the gloom of the night into the brightness of a beautiful day. As I was leaving the house, the four-year-old who had started the series of events the night before, appeared at the door, pulled on my coattail and then, with my help, climbed into my arms, took hold of both of my ears with her little hands and without any warning kissed me as hard as she could right on the nose and said, "Daddy, I sure do love you. You are sure a good sport." "A good sport, eh I" ¶

and I tried to smile away the frown that had settled throughout my whole system. "Yep! you're the best daddy in the whole world," and planting another kiss on my neck, she slid to the floor and ran back to her bed. ¶

Count Your Blessings What was about to be a bad morning for me turned out to be one of my best. ¶

As I drove to my assignment with a song in my heart, I thought of my many blessings: my lovely, dedicated wife and family, the fact that I belong to Christ's Church in reality, that I am a member of this great country of ours, a citizen indeed, that I enjoy the freedoms that we all so often take for granted. And it was all brought back to my remembrance by a simple kiss on the nose. This little four-year-old with tender love and appreciation had restored my perspective of life and brought to my attention once again the real values we all seek. ¶

Then I began to think how easy it had been for me to let such a little thing as a sleepless night make me forget for a moment these same values and how everything I would have done that day might have been affected by my resulting attitude. Luckily I was brought back to reality, but how often do all of us let the "get up on the wrong side of the bed" attitude become a habit that dominates our everyday thoughts and lets problems or the desire for instant and usually temporary satisfactions become so important that long-range goals and objectives are forgotten. While certain problems must be worried about and temporal satisfactions must be met, these things are only important to us as a means to an end — as the means of getting where we eventually want to go. Ultimate happiness, the kind we all want, does not come from continuously being temporarily satisfied, continuously seeking the physical and emotional comforts of life and being so dissatisfied with anything else that we permit ourselves to forget our blessings and responsibilities, to forget the Lord and his love for us and his willingness to help us in our pursuit of life and happiness. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36.) Value of Objective Someone has said, "Life is of value only when it has something valuable as its objective." What objective? The Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith told David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, that eternal life was the greatest of all the gifts of God. (See D&C 14:7.) What better objective is there than this for our lives? Knowing this to be true as I do through personal testimony, I would like to speak especially to you young people who are in the vital planning stage of your lives, and to those parents and teachers who guide you, about the importance of properly focusing your values. We all, as well as you, yourselves, want the best for you now and forever. The best is a knowledge of and love for our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ and a life of happiness here on earth that will eventually lead you to the desired objective of eternal life. How do we determine the values that will accomplish this? Through religion which encompasses all the principles that give us strength, determination, and faith to push forward. Living as we do today in a world that seems to be becoming more godless by the moment, an occasional or even weekly visit to church is not often enough to gain us the knowledge we need. Religion must be a daily affair, entering into every phase of our existence. It was to provide this daily education and exposure to religion that the seminaries, institutes of religion, and church colleges were established, and this is why they should play such an important role in the lives of you young people today. ¶

Youth Need Religion Today more than ever before our youth need religion. Some years ago our beloved Prophet David O. McKay in an editorial gave a number of reasons for giving proper religious training to our youth. I'd like to refer to three of his points: ¶

First, he said, "Youth need religion to maintain a proper equilibrium during the formative period of their lives." ¶

(Treasures of Life, p. 493.) Young people tend to be impetuous and sometimes, in trying to formulate their conclusions, have a tendency to look upon parents as old-fashioned, but they give confidence to others who seem to be leading them into new realms and higher planes. Now when, under these conditions, the young person receives something which seems to conflict with his previous notions of religion and right, he is likely to be swayed beyond his proper equilibrium. Youth today are thinking more than ever before, and they need to have a daily influence which will keep them in proper balance. ¶

Second, President McKay said, "Youth should have religion in order to stabilize our society." (Ibid., p. 495.) It was Goethe who observed that "The destiny of any nation at any given time depends on the opinion of its young men under five and twenty." (Cited idem.) Speaking of the need of stability in our society makes me remember, thinking as a soldier during World War II what a tragedy that so much destruction, pain, and suffering had to exist in a world that had achieved such brilliance in so many fields, for instance, the sciences. I can't help recalling the magnificent M-l rifle that was placed into my hands when I was an infantryman and how grateful I was for the protection it gave me. The brilliance that went into creating this weapon of war is outstanding, and yet its utilization was a sad commentary on life, for many times I was required in the defense of this country to pull the trigger to take the life of a fellow human being because of this very thing that our beloved prophet has indicated to us in his editorial. ¶

Robert A. Millikan, himself a renowned scientist, has said this about his own field: "Science without religion obviously may become a curse rather than a blessing to mankind. But science dominated by the spirit of religion is the key to progress and the hope of the future." (Cited idem.) This suggests that scientific leaders of the future, as well as leaders in all fields, will need spiritual understanding and training. ¶

Third, youth need religion to satisfy the innate longing of the soul. "Man," ¶

President McKay has said, "is a spiritual being, and sometime or another every man is possessed with a longing, an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the infinite. He realizes that he is not just a physical object that is to be tossed for just a short time from bank to bank, only to be submerged finally in the ever-flowing stream of life. There is something within him which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical and live in a higher and more beautiful world." ¶

Three Great Needs He goes on to give three great needs associated with the spiritual urge which have been felt throughout the centuries: "1. Every normal person yearns to know something of God. What is he like? Is he interested in the human family or does he disregard it entirely? ¶

2. What is the best life to live in this world in order to be most successful and to get the most happiness? 3. What is that inevitable thing called death?

What is beyond it? If you want your answer to these longings of the human soul, you must come to the Church and come often to get it." (Ibid., pp. 495496.) Youth need religion. The world needs it — in fact, it is the world's greatest need. It is my humble prayer that you young people everywhere, along with your parents, will see the need for constant, daily exposure to religious education and that you will support it with interest and enthusiasm. By keeping your energies and values properly focused, you, as well as we, can in reality inherit eternal life. ¶

How grateful I am this morning for the testimony I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the meaning and understanding that this gives me that God really lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the Prophet Joseph Smith was called and ordained of God to establish again his Church in these latter days, and to have the full assurance and knowledge that David O. McKay is a living prophet of the Lord. And while I have been a member of this Church all my life, I have had that glorious opportunity of standing in his presence and having spirit touch spirit, giving me the complete verification that these things are true. I bear you my witness humbly and gratefully in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶