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Show uvc gCVWro 0(? EDITORIAL PAGE 0. Our Eferncal Identify of the most comforting things about the our assurance of immortality, and is gospel that as part of immortality we will continue to be ourselves, we will know each other and thereby enjoy eternal life together. This is the basis of one of our mcst important doctrines, that of family survival in the world to come. This is why we have temple marriage and why families are sealed together for everlasting. What value would there be in an eternal family if members lost their identity and could not recognize each other? PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH, father of our recent Church president, discussed this subject with great clarity when he taught that our personal identity is both fixed and indestructible, just as fixed and indestructible as the identity of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. They cannot be other than themselves. (Gospel Doc. p25) Rut he also gave us a further glimpse into this great doctrine, saying that as our identity is fixed in the hereafter, so it was likewise fixed during the period prior to our birth into earth life. Since we had our origin as children of God, even our identity was fixed in the as it is preserved in the hereafter. It never has changed and never will change in the future. We did not SAID PRESIDENT SMITH: existed from the Our from spawn. spirits spring conwill and existed have always, beginning, tinue forever. "We did NOT pass through the ordeals of embodiment in the lesser animals in order to reach the perfection to which we have attained in manhood and womanhood, in the image and likeness of God. God was and is our Father and His children were begotten in the flesh in His own image and likeness, male and female. (p 25-2- He then spoke of reincarnation, which was one of the false teachings circulated in his day, and says: It is absolutely repugnant to the very soul of man to think that a civilized intelligent being might become a dog, a cow, a cat; that he might be transformed into another to the shape, another being. It is opposed of cannot God he that truth change and great his children cannot change. . . . Their identity can never be changed, worlds without end. Remember that. God has revealed these principles and I know they are true. ... IT ANY LESS repugnant then, to suppose that we sprang from lower forms of life, than to think that we might be reincarnated into them after death? Our identity does not change from one eternity to the other, it was not changed prior to our birth, and will not be changed after our death. President Smith was a prophet of God. He spoke the words of God and taught that man was always man the offspring of God with the possibility sometime of becoming perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matt 5:48) Isnt it natural for children to become like their parents? IS PRESIDENT SMITH then concluded: Our young people are diligent students. They reach out after truth and knowledge with commendable zeal, and in doing so they must necessarily adopt for temporary use, many theories of men. It is when these theories are settled as basic truth that trouble appears, and upon the searcher then stands in grave danger of being led hopelessly from the right way. (p ... 38) A cohol The Killer ALCOHOL EVENTUALLY kills its victims. It shortens the life span by ten to twelve years. Fifty million Americans have mental problems related to alcohol. There is no known medical cure for alcoholism. These pronouncements were made by Dr. Robert Levis Rose of San Francisco at a medical convention recently held at Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, Ariz. Dr. Rose is a professor of medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. The Scottsdale convention was sponsored by St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center and the Flinn Foundation Alcohol is the most widely used and abused drug known, said Dr. Rose. While effective medical treatment is available for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and, in many cases for the organic damage caused by alcoholism, there is no scientific evidence that any form of medical treatment ever really cured an alcoholic. DRUGS, Dr. Rose said, can treat only the symptoms of alcoholism, not the condition itself 16 CHURCH WEEK ENDING MARCH 23. 1974 Calling alcoholism an addictive disease, Dr. Rose said the condition eventually results in lifelong mental damage as well as debilitating physical damage and eventually kills its victims. He cited federal government figures to show that an estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have mental problems related to alcohol. Commonly, the alcoholic, not necessarily a skid row bum, denies his alcoholism, but continues to drink in secret. However, he cannot hide the physical and mental degeneration his alcoholism causes. WHAT WAS IT the Lord said more than a century ago? And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly. (D&C 83:7-9.- ) And how do the Latter-daSaints respond? True believers obey and enjoy the blessings, but the doubters they too reap their reward. Peace and Happiness His subject was peace and happiness, President Lorenzo Snow explained, and the blessings of the gospel were designed to answer the desires of the heart. Specifically, he continued, as he addressed the large congregation in the Tabernacle Sunday afternoon, Oct. 11, 1857, All this trouble and vexation of the mind is but a matter of the present: and if we keep the light of the Spint within us, we can so walk in the gospel that we can measurably enjoy happiness in this world. Husbands, he said, "learn to give proper counsel and direction" to your families. Learn how to manage, and while this will not come immediately, in time, a husband will learn to "bestow comfort upon each member of his family. If fathers set the proper example, children will grow up in the knowledge of these things and be able, with greater facility, to promote the orders of heaven and es- tablish happiness and peace around them, he added. He noted that it does not trouble some women to follow the counsel of their husbands: They will serve them in faithfulness they will honor ; nd respect the power of the priesthood that is upon their husbands. This is true also of husbands. "Some men will at once fall into the channel of obedience, wmle it takps other men quite a length of time Husbands and wives are seldom perfect. But they should grow together in their perfection, and this requires a great exertion on the part of wives to keep pace with their husbands, President Snow said. Be united am live in peace, increase in light and intelligence, he pleaded. "Let the one that has got the most light learn to be the most forbearing, for the sake of her husband and for the sake of the principles of truth, he counseled women of the church. Let her show mercy and patience in overlooking the fault of husbands. In this manner a wife will gain influence and favGr with her husband, with her sisters and with her Heavenly Father. The whole is summed up in this do right! he de- dared. If families will do al! the good they can, they will be on the path to exaltation and glory, he added. y (Another in a series) ;t r I |