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Show 1 GSMS OF THOUGHT onsrasiHBica EDITORIAL PAGE By Divine Right Man An Agent Unto Himself What Great Men Say MAN CANNOT LIVE happily without God. is only one way to happiness in this life, and that is, through acceptance of Gods teachings. of the world the deep thinkers All great men agree on this point. God is so important in the lives of the truly great that Voltaire once said that if there were no God we would have to invent one. The great need of the world today is an acceptance of the Almighty, with a willingness to serve Him. Without Him, our crises will continue to grow, our misunderstandings will increase, nation will continue to oppose nation, individuals will never cease to harbor hate and selfishness. z GENERAL DOUGLAS MacArthur said a significant thing in his V-- J Day address in Tokyo. As he surveyed the results of World War II he said: We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological, and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advance in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past 2,000 years. It must be of the spirit if we, are to save the flesh. j It is remarkable that others of our national lead-ers have expressed this indentical thought in terms just as unmistakable. Daniel Webster in 1852 said : If we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of God and shall respect His commandments, if we and they,. shall maintain just moral sentiments and such conscientious convictions of duty as shall control the heart and life, we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country, and we may be sure of one thing: our country will go on prosN pering. BUT IF WE and our posterity reject religious in- - strQction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality and recklessly destroy the political Constitution which holds us together, no one can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity. And Washington said: We ought to be persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained. And J. Edgar Hoover, our great head of the FBI said: What we need in America today is a return to the God of our Fathers and a most vigorous defense against the minions of godlessness and atheism. Many other quotations might be given from many other leaders. They would all say essentially the same thing: America needs to return to God. THE RIOTS, strikes, anarchy, arson, thievery, attacks upon the person, murders, rapes, neglect of parents and the waywardness of youth all attest to our departure from a true worship of the Almighty. No one who really believes in Christ would offend his neighbor. No one who worships God with a sincere heart would rise up Against law and Order, pillage, burn and steal. No one who is converted to the Gospel of Christ would be guilty of crime, assault or immorality. The widespread lawlessness which has marked our land, and which is seen in nearly every other land, is but evidence of the apostasy from or the disregard for the basic spiritual qualities which should mark a true civilization. As Woodrow Wilson so effectively said in his day: The sum of the whole matter is this that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually. It can only be saved by becoming permeated with the Spirit of Christ and being made free and happy by practices which spring out of that Spirit. Excerplt from an aiirett hy EUer Alain R. Dyer delivered at the annual 117 th General Conference of the Church, April 9, 1967. One of the great principles of the Gospel is found in this fact that man by divine right is an agent unto himself and therefore does only that which he wills. (DAC. Someone offered this suggestion: Life By the Yard Is Hard, But! BY THE INCH, ITS A CINCH The overcoming of the tobacco habit is much the same as overcoming any weakness, detrimental to health, happiness and being of a spir58-1- itual mind. Take for instance the case of a man that I knew who had the habit of smoking to the extent he would set the alarm clock for definite intervals during the night and in reverie he would sit on the edge of his bed. Or another man I knew who did the same thing without the aid of an alarm clock, simply in response to the habitual urge to smoke. With such men the desire to answer the challenge to quit required something more than just the statement I have smoked my last cigarette. As one of them said to me: If I could just quit for one hour it would be an achievement. Then I would say, now Ill go another hour. He learned a" great lesson anything yOu can do for one hour, you can do for two, and as each hour passes, new strength comes. Yes, even new strength to meet the times of extreme pressure when things seem to go all to pieces. From the Apostle James we have this for those who overcome a weakness: Blessed is the man that endoreth temptation; for when be is tried, he shall receivb the rrowa of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. (James 1:12) In my own acquaintance, the most happy persons are those who love the Gospel and its truths of righteousness, and who are making a real effort to live by the standards of life it teaches. THIS WEEK IN CHURCH HISTORY: Important Mission For Cadet Packer $ept 10. 1924 Bovd K. Packer was born In Brigham CV Utah. There had been a crash that morning. One of the Army Air Corps cadets at Thunderbird II had ridden his Steer-ma- n trainer down in a horrifying dive, dying in the flamthat had burned a black spot on the Arizona crash ing desert. Cadet Boyd K. Packer, along with the rest of the trainees, donned his helmet and goggles, white silk scarf and sheepskin jacket. Clambering into the open cockpits of the antique bi planes, the cadets took to the air. This was the usual therapy for crash jitters. All afternoon, the cadets practiced landings at an auxiliary field. Cadet Packer was one of the last group to take its turn and had the duty of flying one of the planes back to the home field His course took him over the crash site. Seeing the black scar on the desert floor and realizing that a young man Ike himself had died there subdued any cocksureness he may have felt previously. He gripped the controls a little more firmly as he prepared to land. To lose altitude in order to enter the flight pattern below, he decided to go into a practice spin, the quickest way to lose altitude. Thinking of the crash, he was tense when it was time to recover from the spin. He jerked the stick too far, The plane shuddered violently, stalled and flipped over into a secondary spin. He could see the ground coming up fast. g. In stark panic Cadet Packer clawed at the controls, trying to save himself from what seemed sure death. Seconds before impact, the plane somehow pulled into a low WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 16, 1967 orchard and garden. In addition, he had his own collection of chickens and rabbits. When he had time, he loved to roam the mountains and marshes. Usually, he returned home from such trips with a snake, a weasel or some such creature to add to his taxidermy collection. In high school, he had enjoyed his classes in painting and sculpture and had thought of becoming an artist. World War II altered whatever plans he had made and he became an Air Corps cadet. After he received his silver wings and lieutenants bars, he began flying B24s in the Pacific Theater. He wound up his service flying B17s in rescue duty. Returning home, he enrolled at Weber College in Ogden, where he met lovely Donna Smith. They were married in the LoganTemp!e. He later attended Washington State and Utah State Universities graduating from the latter in 1949. He continued to study for his master's then his doctor's degree and in the meantime taught seminary and served as coordinator of Indian affairs for the Church at the Intermountain Indian School, Brigham City. Eventually, he moved into the administrative area of the Unified Church School System as assistant to the vice administrator then as a member of the administrative council of Brigham Young University and the Unified School System. At the October conference Jn 1961, he was sustained as an assistant to the Council of the Twelve. For the past two years, he has been serving as president of the New England Mission. Arnold Irvine. air-se- a sweep skimming the chaparral. He regained his composure, took the plane back up and landed normally. Cadet Packer had an important mission ahead of him that could not be cancelled by a fatal crash on the Arizona desert Scarcely out of Box Elder High School when he had joined the Air Corps, he had grown up in the quiet northern Utah town of Brigham City. He was the 10th in a family of 11 children and had to do his share in tending the (wm MMvicript Mn Chore H Marian's otfica. |