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Show Constancy Amid Change the eempletest enjoyment ef A Way Of Life divine ' authorship BY which is claimed- - for-i- t. no -- other basis could man in this physthe Council of the Twelve ical world rise to the dignity .(Radio Address, Sunday, Oct. of his station as the crowning glory ' of - the whole creative 17, 1943, ot 9:15 p.m, over KSL) process. Surely his complete " realization could not spiritual" AST Sunday , we presented be r I supposed to come into ful' the, thought that religion fillment on terms less noble ' deals with questions concernthan those controlling in refing the purpose of, life and erence to his physical being. mans destiny, and treated I am not discounting- - the briefly some ideas germane to value of meditation or of penethat thought We also said that trating mental and spiritual our purpose would be to speak search and inquiry. These are of religion in terms of what it ' does. ' One of the most impor- - as necessary to spiritual foundations as are study and experitant things it does is to point Or out the means by which man may achieve 'his destiny. In that sense it becomes a way of life, which is what we want to talk about tonight The way-- a man lives is hot only of primary importance; is also the element, among those named, over which he has most control. He hasnt very much to say about the purpose of life since that lies with the Creator and was His purpose. He cant do very much about his destiny as an ideal projection since that is, bound up with the purpose of his being and is also of the Creators design. But whether he achieves the destiny that is projected for him lies largely in his own hands. At least, what it is in his power to do for himself he mustdK "Things beyond Ills power are in the hands of God. By the right course ofTiv-inman may attain his designed goal; by the wrong course he may miss, it, This imposes upon the individual a personal responsibility for his own success' or failure, the security of his own fu- : ture. Of necessity this entails that man is a moral agent with freedom to choose between right and wrong. It entails, too, that; there is in the vorld an objec-tive, righteous, unchanging principle with reference to which some courses of action are adjudged right and. others wrong; some good, others bad. This principle may not always be accepted nr even recognized but it must be there,' independent of location or custcfln, for 'progress to better ways is de- pendent upon -- it Without it ..it x g, v -- -- the pilgrim,on lifes journey - could have no safe guide. If there is no reliable standard, then one mans notion IS as authoritative as' anothers and uncertainty of ..direction .must Life in consequence follow. would be unstable as the waves of the sea, driven by the wind and' tossed.-O- nly" futility of action and .frustration of purpose could follow,1 a condition wholly incompatible with the postulate of Omnipotent design.. -- -- r - -- mentation to scholastic accomplishments. Neither do I overlook the dependence of man upon divine favbr for aid with his task. Above all I do, not mean to neglect the essentiality of the divine plan of redemption upon which all else depends. - This and the provision for and the conditions of obtaining divine help are among the things that are in the hands of God. JWe are more particularly concerned just now with religion as an operative influence directing man in what he has to do for himself. Spiritual understanding and power and discernment and do not come gratuitously. They must be won. Jesus Himself, whose penetrating vision pierced through and beyond physical boundaries, wrestled in the wilderness for forty days before entering upon His great ministry Qf and spiritual supremacy and He called mightily upon the - Father for comfort and sup. . port. But from the day of His victory Oyer temptation His life "was one of active, aggressive practice of the virtues He" taught.' There.is.io the plan lor life as proposed by religion no promise of freedom from care or sorrow or1, suffering or disparagement or want But through all these fidelity to the overarching purpose must Religion does not hold out any illusory promise that the way that leads to eternal destiny is an easy one. One cant wish nor dream oneself into heaven; one has to pay his passage in struggle. In travail and in sacrifice and in righteous living. The decree, went forth that in the sweat of his brow man should eat bread. Every competent rational being knows that in that decree lies eternal wisdom. It is worthy of the stand, unyielding and undis- mayed. Through-experien- eternally? That is one of the assurances of religion conditioned upon election of the tvay which leads to that consummationrReligion has a scale of values which persist and will, because thereof, minister to mans satisfactions a nam---in- g WAY OF LIFE IMPORTANT A way of life is important because life is important. It is the most valuable possession a man has in one sense his only possession. He may spend his time accumulating things houses, lands, goods, yachts, racing stables. From them he the Elder Bowen Gives Theme -- and nELIEFS is the subject of the next address to be delivered by Elder Albert E. Bowen of the Council of - the Twelve on the - Church Radio Hour; Sun--da. -- Oct. 24 at 9:15 pm. over KSL. Elder Bowens discussion is the third in a Series under the general heaiing of Constancy 'Amid Change. Special musical numbers will be heard on the same prograrp.. may derive comforts and gratifications." But eyen in these ways they may serve him only so long as he has life. They lose all their power of ministration the moment life ceases. When life is threatened by danger or disease, howsoever much he may have acquired, he would give it all for safety or restoration for the extension of lifejf even but for a span, because as life ebbs away they are of ncTuse to Tiim.' To en-- ' joy them he must live. Now if life is so precious a thing that a man would give all his worldly goods to preserve it here in this world, what shonld he not be will-ing to do to be assured of -- . Last Year Of A Noble Life IN reporting another weeks activities of the Prophet Joseph Smith during the last year of his life and prior to the martyrdom, we quote excerpts taken- - from his manuscript journal. The first entry on Oct. 24, described only the 1843, weather, reporting the first fall the Prophet House, and on the following day he jourI was at home and nalizes: received a visit from Bishop George Miller and Elder Peter Haws, who-hav- e just returned from their trip to Mississippi and Alabama. Many - emigrants - have arrived in Nauvoo in the last few weeks. meeting at my house, in the evening. and measures - together with their unparalleled- success, so far, are calculated to throw a charm over your whole being, and to point you out as the most extraordinary man of the present age. . . . I rate yon higher than I do Moses, because we have yon present with ns for examination, whereas Moses chief authority derlyeshls from - prescription and the lapse of time. next day his journal , The records that in the evening he settled taxes for the Temple observations therei n is The .Saints" where I have traveled as yet, are generally poor and some of them that are the most liberal have been skinned, to the backbone, and others again are not entirely clear of the charge of selfishness and the fear of being deluded against their will Consequently hold on to the purse, expecting every minute when another Bennett expose or some old experienced hat will jump up from behind the screen and. reveal the. whole mystery or bugbear' of Mor-- - ' of snow. ; i. " Thenextday and -- d -- s' the-wor- o j noted -- the - receipt- - of a letter "Oct." 28, the Psophet received from James Arlington 'Bennett a letter from his brother Wil. . Esq., which said in part: liam Smith who; .wrote him The boldness of your plans from Philadelphia. One of the ofjn-"teres- t: ld.- - Let ter Ex to s V r tu es 0 f P r o p h e t i 1 1 heart n Prac-- , tices self-master- y 1 great-hero- ic here-and-i- n ce- and mastery and purification and. spiritual expansion -- man fits himself for greater things both here. and beyond, while living life among men in this material physical world." -- -- NOT AN EASY WAY ments. The rich young mmi who came to Him evidently believed that there-w- as some act which he could perform and be assured of sal- wation. But Jesus soon dis- pelled that illusion. In one sentence He gave the formula: If thou wilt enter into' - life, keep the commandThese values do not lie . in ments. things. They consist in endurThe interrogator apparently ing virtues. These man must did not yet understand for he build into himself. These are the question: put what he takes with him. By a ..... Which?. writing-onpiece of paper a Jesus enumerated them man may make disposition of all his properties. If he doesnt substantially those recited do that they, will he disposed In the Decalogue; adding to of anyway when he is gone. these the requirement for love But the qualities "Of character of neighbor. When the young he has woven into lifes pat- man learned that the prize of tern he cannot give away. No eternal life required a subordione may dispose of them for nation of the material to the him. Neither can he be dis- spiritual he went away sor"T" possessed of them by edict of rowful any earthly power. They are pure his, his only real" possession. Jesus extolled the pure In And they determine his status as he enters upon the life be- heart, declaring it is they who shalL-se- e No one can God, yond where merit is thecri-terioto that their challenge right of judgment. In the scale of values, who would not supremacy. As an ideal for a give his all to be the author of human society it is not subject the Sermon on the Mount, or to question. If mens, hearts to have achieved a life, which were pure we should not have reflected the spiritual su- the reports of bestiality which premacy of Him who spoke it? come from the battlefields reIt is the function of re-- , specting the treatment of helpless prisoners. Neither should ligion to teach man how to rise to the highest station. we have the oppression under which the inhabitants of the' Life after death is assnred world groan. Our press would him without any act of his not be filled with accounts of own, being beyond his power to effect. That is one' of the the appalling delinquencies things which lies in the which forebode the disintegration of personal integrity hands of God. But the abunand 'the undermining of our dance of that life will devery civilization itself. If men pend upon his attainments, were pure in heart there would the soul growth he hasman-agethrough - cooperation , be no war at all either among nations, between classes or Inwith the divine-will- . dividuals, for .there could be no covetousness, or greed, or NEEDED GUIDE, seeking of advantage or desire But a guide to the way of to destroy. Vice dens, whose life must be git en. .Obviously noisome stenches pollute the man cannot make it for him- moral of our cities, atmosphere self- The very postulate of. rewould be cleansed and eweet ligion as resting in the rela- ened by the simple process of tionship of man to God, the purification of the human Creator and Designer and Au- heart. That one achievement thor of the purpose of life, tor would r e no va te bids that. It is given, and is The Master also bestowed not very complex nor difficult His benediction upon those of statement, but, as the exwho and thirst after hunger perience of the race shows, is righteousness; the poor in plenty hard of observance. For Christians it is in the rules for spirit, the merciful, and the peacemakers, calling them living which Jesus laid down-Hof God, or children the called them commandr assuring them mercy comfort, or a place in the kingdom of heaven. That the practice-- of thevirtnes -it" -- which would from flow hearts so chastened and cleansed would convert this monism, hitherto unknown to "earth into a kingdom of peace the Saints or world of manwill no one may and good kind after all the positive tesgainsayr"JThey are, as well, timony and demonstration of the conditions to exaltation its truth. kingdom; The next day being Sunday; intheare heavenly the goals of perthey services were held at the stand - fection- - toward which aspiron the south side qf the Temple ants for that coveted place and at 2 p.m.' a prayer meeting must strive. They are the was held at Josephs house, 25 of life defined by the way people being present. The Christian religion. Prophet gave . instruct ions on Christs teachings have been the things of the Priesthood, in the world now for nineteen according to bis journal's hundred years. Theyhave InThe last of the seven-dafluenced the course of empires. period the Journal History-o- f The most prospered and enthe Church, records concerning lightened and freedom-lovinAt 9 am. the nations the prophet: of the earth - have Prophet' Joseph Smith went to drawn the very mayors court and adjourned principles upon which-- ' theif for one week. At 12 noon he governmental frameworks rest attended court in the office, frorh thein teachings concernwhen the parties agreed to his dignity, the inman, ing leave their difficulty to be setof his soiil and his violability tled by the arbitration of inalienable fight to be free. Brother Flagg. "Joseph received $300 from VALIDITY QUESTIONED Brother Spencer, and immediYet now in this age their ately paid it to Dr. Foster. validity is called in question. On account of the cold The very name of the Son of weather, most of the masons (Continued on Page Twelve) have discontinued the work on the Temple, the last entry October 23, 1943 Nge 11 read. ' - g life-givin- , |