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Show t . . I . . , . , iff pin n , '. , ' , 4; , , t , iVfcf n n i. ' t ',Y ' f ' ' k kk .... .,,.., i ' IS Itllf n! (SftwrcS CWwS EDITORIAL PAGE Importance Off Doing Duty of the publications of the United Air Force is called Combat Cargo. It carried news regularly, together with an interesting editorial page. Recently it published a letter from a chaplain, J. D. Norman. In his discussion Chaplain Norman talked about ones Uuty and what it means. He told of meeting an elderly man, a saw mill operator, who was the town philosopher. Chaplain Norman quoted the old man as One saying: 4 The most beautiful word in the English language is Duty. Duty is the call to throw off selfishness and to think of the common good of all. Duty quietly challenges us to work diligently for all those for whom we are responsible. Duty deciphers the sirens voice letting us hear her fickleness and thus remain faithful t that which is true. Duty reminds us that we are stewards of that which our Creator has entrusted to us." THE CHAPLAIN then commented: Now Im sure that I have not reached that stage of maturity where I understand the word Duty as this old friend understood it. But I know this hardly a day goes by that I do not see what happens when & person drops Duty from his vocabulary. ..... : I see the heartbreak of the man or woman whose mate has no concept of Duty. I cannot erase the memory of a childs bewildered eyes when his parents know not Duty. Repeatedly I have received letters from distressed parents concerning sons who forgot Duty and brought shame upon the family. We see all too often the aimlessness of that one who is in the Armed Forces of his Country without the motivation that Duty inspires. Have you come to think of Duty as Has Duty become a being type of flag waving that is distasteful to todays sophisticate? FORGET DUTY and watch your life lose its significance and become hollow . mockery. Forsake Duty and watch the homes of our Nation the cradles of good citizenship crumble and fall apart. Cross off Duty from your vocabulary and give up the privilege of some day hearing, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. The editor of the publication went on to comment still further on the subject, show ing its importance in the light of our obligation, as Americans, to the Declaration of Independence and to our free way of life. Said the editor: It takes only ten minutes to read the Declaration of Independence. But some of us either from lack of have never bothered interest or simple indolence. This is pitiful for it is the cornerstone of our free way of life, a written bulwark against imperialistic dictators. TOO MANY AMERICANS think it guarantees them life, liberty, and happiness. Not at all only the pursuit of happiness. serviceman should know that no Every one but a selfish child claims the right to happiness. That life, that liberty, that happiness must be deserved must be earned. How do we earn them, how are they deserved? Certainly not by existing lazily in our hard-wo- n freedom. We must contribute and in doing so give more to the world than we take from it. This is. the real way to happiness. If we strive for shortcuts, take the easy way out or let greed take the place of honor, we are most certainly doomed. True Americanism is earned by dedication and hard work not shortcuts. It is equally true of our activity in the Church. Not only do we have a duty to our fellowmen, to our employer, our friends, our families and oar country, but we have a most solemn obligation to remember our duty to. God, and know that this obligation i3 ours by covenant. WE PLEDGE WEEKLY, as we partake of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, and as we enter into other ordinances and covenants of the Lord, that we will always remember Him, and keep His commandments which He has given us, and walk in His ways. To keep those covenants and honor this duty is our chief concern in life. Membership in the Church will not save us, all by itself. Faith without works is dead. As the editor of Combat Cargo said of our American way of life, so we may with equal truth say of our place in the Church: the Gospel provides us the opportunity of PURSUING happiness, a happiness which we must earn. Not even the blessings of God come to us without effort on our part. We must earn them by obedience to the laws upon which each one is predicated. BOOK OF MORMON PROFILES Coriantumr: A Willful Ruler The story of Coriantumr Is one of a willful, despotic ruler determined to hold on to his power. The end result was total destruction of his people. Coriantumr was King of the Jaredites and sovereign over all the land. Despite their heritage, the Jaredites had forsaken the Lord. 'The Prophet Ether warned them that unless they repented, they w'ould be completely destroyed. If they would turn from their wicked ways, they would be spared. Ether added a fearful warning to Coriantumr that he would be the last to remain alive and would see the utter annihilation of the once noble race. He also would see another people possess the land, established by heaven to be a land of freedom to those who would sen e the Lord. Though a potent ruler, artful in the ways of the world, and skilled in the warriors trade, the sinful Coriantumr ignored Ethers prophecy. Within a year of Ethers warning, however, rebellion broke out and from then until the end of his days, Coriantumr knew little but the devastation and horrors of war. In one particular round of battles, writes Ether, two million men were slain. If the wives and children of these men also died in the fighting there is reason to believe they did surely it must have been the bloodiest fighting in the worlds history. So great was the slaughter, that even the unregenerate king sickened and wrote to his enemy, Shiz, offering to give up the kingdom if the fighting ceased. But the grossly depraved Shiz, having placed himself in the hands of Satan, agreed only if Coriantumr surrendered to be slain. Coriantumr refused, and the battles began anew with victories going first to one side, then to the other. Hate and desire for vengeance grew until eventually, during a four-yestandoff, both sides marshalled all their forces for one conclusive, deadly campaign. When the fighting finally began, every man, woman, and child in the land was enlisted. After two days, so many had been slaughtered that Coriantumr again wrote Shiz and offered to yield up the kingdom if the people were spared. Again Shiz refused. Finally, after eight days, all except Coriantumr and Shiz were dead. The Jaredite king rested on his sword for a bit, records Ether, then smote off the head of the vindictive Shiz who had fainted from loss ar Need For Spiritual Insight . "" ExcerpH Harold B. Irom an addrou by EMw Laa. delivered al Conference al Church, Oct. Ift4. It seems a curious thing that in all dispensations, our worst enemies have been those within who have betrayed the works of the Lord. There were the sons of Mosiah and the younger Alma before their miraculous conversions. It was so in the days when the Master said of His betrayer, Have I not chosen Judas, twelve, and one of you is a devil. (John 6:70) Likewise did Joseph have h's betrayers. We may well expect to find our Judases among those professing RCH membership but unfortunately for them, they are laboring under some kind of evil influences or have devious motives. Excerpts Irom an odd roll by Elder ot General Conftronco, Gordo B. Hinckley October, IMt. The business of the Church is to open the vision of men to eternal verities, and to prompt them to take a stand for equity and decency, and virtue and goodness. More than a century ago Alex de Toqueville, a French philosopher, visited America and out of the impressions of that tour : WEEK ENDING MARCH 15, 1969 I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. of blood. Thus Ethers prophecy was fulfilled: the Jaredites were utterly destroyed. Coriantumr lived for some time, wandering alone across the ravaged land. Eventually he stumbled into an unknown people, the Mulekites, with whom he lived for nine months before dying. I lustration adapted from "The Book of Mormon Story." 1C) Deseret Book Co., Ronald Crosby, artist -- |
