I pray for the inspiration of heaven and your faith and prayers, my brothers and sisters, as I stand before you this afternoon. My soul has been subdued and my heart made tender through the passing of our great leader, President George Albert Smith. I have mingled feelings of humility, sadness, and gratitude, at the passing of a prophet of God. All Israel, I am sure, has been weeping. And yet, back of it all has been a feeling of thanksgiving for the life of this great man. The Lord said in this dispensation: "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, . . . "(D. & C. 42:45.)
And so it is fitting that we should have sadness in our hearts and should weep at the passing of one we love, and one whom the Lord loves and has magnified. He was a man without guile, and as President McKay said this morning, with Christlike attributes.
"A REAL MAN"
Since Wednesday night there have been going through my heart and through my mind, these lines under the caption, "A Real Man":
Men are of two kinds. and he
Was of the kind I'd like to be.
Some preach their virtues, and a few
Express their lives by what they do.
That sort was he. No flowery phrase
Or glibly spoken words of praise
Won friends for him. He wasn't cheap
Or shallow, but his course ran deep,
And it was pure. You know the kind.
Not many in a life you find
Whose deeds outrun their words so far
That more than what they seem, they are.
There are two kinds of lies as well:
The kind you live, the ones you tell.
Back through his years from age to youth
He never acted one untruth.
Out in the open light he fought
And didn't care what others thought
Nor what they said about his fight.
If he believed that he was right.
The only deeds he ever hid
Were acts of kindness that he did.
What speech he had was plain and blunt.
His was an unattractive front.
Yet children loved him; babe and boy
Played with the strength he could employ
Without one fear, and they are fleet
To sense injustice and deceit.
No backdoor gossip linked his name
With any shady tale of shame.
He did not have to compromise
With evil-doers, shrewd and wise,
And let them ply their vicious trade
Because of some past escapade.
Men are of two kinds, and he
Was of the kind I'd like to be.
No door at which he ever knocked
Against his manly form was locked.
If ever man on earth was free
And independent, it was he.
No broken pledge lost him respect,
He met all men with head erect,
And when he passed I think there went
A soul to yonder firmament
So white, so splendid, and so fine
It came almost to God's design.
--Edgar A. Guest
(Used by kind permission of the author. Copyright, Detroit Free Press.)
TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT SMITH
God bless the memory of President George Albert Smith. I am grateful beyond my words of expression for the close association which I have had with him in the last few years. I am grateful that my family has lived in the same ward and has come under the benign influence of his sweet spirit. I shall never cease to be grateful for the visits he made to my home while I was serving as a humble missionary in the nations of war-torn Europe at the end of World War II. Particularly am I thankful for a visit in the still of the night when our little one lay at death's door. Without any announcement, President Smith found time to come into that home and place his hands upon the head of that little one, held in her mother's arms as she had been for many hours, and promise her complete recovery. This was President Smith, he always had time to help, particularly those who were sick, those who needed him most.
Last Monday evening at the Lion House, there was held a party for those who had served on the general boards of M.I.A. in years past under the leadership of Brother George Q. Morris and Sister Lucy Grant Cannon. It was to have been an April Fool party, a fun party, but the gathering turned out to be a spontaneous meeting of tribute to the man who, probably as much as any other who has ever lived, inspired and loved the youth of Zion. I wish you could have heard the tribute paid by dear Sister Ruth May Fox, ninety-seven years of age, as she stood on her feet and bore testimony to the worth of President Smith and the inspiration which he has been to the youth of Zion through all the days of his life.
I wish you could have sat with me the past two years in close association with the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America and heard leaders of industry, financiers, business executives, and leaders in the professions speak of the fine life of President George Albert Smith. Their first words after greeting were usually, "How is my good friend, George Albert Smith?" Many of them would add, "A man of God, if there ever was one." Then as we parted they often said, "Take my love and greetings to President George Albert Smith." He loved all men. They reciprocated that love. What an example he has set for us all, my brothers and sisters, in this spirit of love, fellowship, and brotherhood!
SAVING OF SOULS
His great objective has been to help save the souls of the children of men. You remember, the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph: "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. (D. & C. 18:10-11.)
The Lord said to Moses: For behold, this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (P. of G. P., Moses 1:39.)
This is our first interest as a Church -- to build character, to save and exalt the souls of the children of men. President Smith was interested in this project above all others. He realized that in the youth of Zion there must be established real character as the one thing they can take with them into the world to come; that they must prepare themselves here for exaltation. I am grateful that he had faith in them. I am grateful for the inspiration that he brought to the youth of Zion. Yes, we do have faith in them. We have faith that they will carry on, that they will measure up, that they will maintain the standards of the past, the standards of their parents and their grandparents. It often would grieve President Smith when he would hear people discredit the youth of the Church and suggest at one time that what they need is a few more models and not so many critics.
I have faith in the youth of Israel, my brothers and sisters, inspired in large measure by President Smith. I have seen them in action, as you have. I rejoice to see our missionaries go out into the world, to meet them on the street corners and hear them bearing testimony to the truth of this great latter-day work. I thrill as I see them in action on the basketball floor. I thrilled with them as they received what was probably the last telegram which President Smith sent, which went to our B. Y. U. basketball boys back in Madison Square Garden. I am stirred as I see our boys out in the service of their country, maintaining the standards of the Church and living the gospel in the face of temptation, sin, and evil all around them.
COMMENTS OF CHAPLAIN
I recall an incident which occurred shortly after World War II. With the president of the Northwestern States Mission, I was making a tour of that mission, and we were up in Alaska. While there we visited one of the camps and held a meeting with our servicemen in the little army chapel. I noted as the service progressed that sitting down in the far corner of the building at a table was a Protestant chaplain. Apparently, he was trying to give the impression that he was working, but we could tell he was listening to every word that was said in that service. This one group of servicemen led the singing, offered the prayers, administered the sacred emblems and bore testimony. As we finished our meeting and were leaving the building, I went over to the chaplain to express gratitude for the use of the building. As I did so, he said in substance, "I wonder if you realize the kind of young men you have represented here in this camp. They are truly a marvelous group of boys." Then he went on to say, "They don't need a chaplain; any one of them could take my place." I thanked him for the compliment and started leaving when he added, "One other thing. I have two boys of my own -- eleven and thirteen -- and you know, I couldn't wish anything better for them than that when they grow a little older, they become members of your Church and develop into the kind of young manhood I have seen represented here in your group of Mormon boys."
FAITH IN YOUTH
My brethren and sisters, it is my conviction that the finest group of young people that this world has ever known anything about has been born under the covenant into the homes of Latter-day Saint parents. I have a feeling that in many cases at least these choice spirits have been held back to come forth in this day and age when the gospel is upon the earth in its fullness, and that they have great responsibilities in establishing the kingdom. I presume that no generation has faced more serious difficulties than they face. They live in an age which seems to question all the standards of the past, and which is discarding many of those standards. Yes, they live in a period when even some spiritual leaders, so-called, point out that the question of smoking, drinking, and carousing has no relationship to salvation, that these are personal matters.
I have the conviction that these young people, if they have the benefit and blessing of the full program of the Church, are going to come through, in spite of the temptations, with colors flying in a way that will make us proud of them. However, they will need more than material things. They are going to need more than real estate, stocks and bonds, life insurance, or even democracy. They are going to need a sane spiritual foundation, if they endure, if they are going to be able to live clean and to maintain the standards of the Church. God expects great things of them. He expects them to develop into noble characters, into good citizens -- citizens which may eventually provide in part, at least, the leaven which may help to save this great nation. He expects them to live clean even in a wicked world. He expects them to grow up with a testimony of the gospel. He expects these young men to live so that they can receive the holy Melchizedek Priesthood and so that eventually they can be married in the temple of God to worthy companions for time and eternity. He also expects them to know the glorious blessings of honorable parenthood and eventually to be exalted in the celestial kingdom of God.
CHURCH PROGRAM
I am convinced, my brethren and sisters, that we have in the Church the finest program available anywhere to help bring about these objectives, if our children are only put in touch with this program. I am thinking now of the blessings which come to our children in the full and rich program of the Primary. They have just held a convention here on this block. Are we missing any of our children? Is the Primary program reaching them? And the same with the Sunday School. Are our children in Sunday School? Are they being taught the gospel in the Sunday School classes? Are our boys and girls attending M.I.A.? Are our boys receiving and enjoying the rich blessings of the program provided through the scouting and Explorer program? Are they being ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, and are they active in the rich program which is provided?
TITHING
I know that the one great reason why President Smith has been so active for many years in the scouting program is the fact that the ideals of scouting follow closely the ideals of the Church. The scouting program is not a substitute for the Aaronic Priesthood program. The most important possession that a boy can have is the Aaronic Priesthood. But scouting is a supplementary, a complementary program. It works hand in hand with the program of the Primary Sunday School, and the Aaronic Priesthood, and is an important and vital part of our program for our boys.
Scouting is dedicated to a four-fold program: First, it teaches the boy his duty to God -- reverence, observance of the Sabbath, and the maintenance of the spiritual standards and ideals of his Church. Second, it teaches duty to country -- true patriotism -- a love for the constitution, for our free institutions and our American way of life. I was thrilled as I stood in Valley Forge last summer facing over forty-seven thousand representative boys as they saw depicted before their eyes that terrible winter of 1777-8 when Washington and his bedraggled forces all but perished there in Valley Forge. These boys' hearts were touched as they saw the father of their country leave his troops and go off into the trees in the snow and bow in humble prayer before the Almighty that this young nation might be preserved. This was part of the two-year Boy Scout theme to "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty." Third, it teaches the value of service to others -- willing, unselfish service, and that the greatest among them must be the servant of all -- symbolized by the "good turn." Fourth, it teaches duty to self -- that they must keep themselves physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. They must be prepared for any eventuality to serve themselves, their Church, and their country.
There is held up before them the Scout oath and the Scout laws, which focus attention on those things that are worth while -- that a Scout must be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent. To be a good scout he must be faithful in his religious duties. Scouting provides a program of training and experience. It is a program for character development. It is a supplementary educational program, a program of citizenship training and vocational exploration. Many boys have found their vocations through this program -- through the 111 merit badges which are concentrated courses in vocational guidance in fifteen different active fields. Scouting teaches boys the crafts and the skills and to do something useful with their hands.
And so, in view of the richness of the scouting program and the fact that these ideals coincide with the ideals of the Church, President Smith has urged our full support in these words: "It is my desire to see scouting extended to every boy in the Church." Under his leadership and inspiration the Church has moved forward to an enviable position with something over 2290 scouting and Explorer units, an increase of 180 during this past calendar year. But there are still approximately fifteen percent of our boys who are not enjoying the benefits of the scouting and Explorer program.
LEADERSHIP NEEDED
One of our great needs, of course, is effective leadership. Some of our boys are not being reached by this program. Some are not being reached by the Aaronic Priesthood program. Some of them are missing the benefits and blessings of Primary. It is largely a question of leadership. Boys want the scouting program, we want them to have it; and if we have the right kind of leadership through real boys' men, they'll have it, enjoy it, and receive the blessings which come from the program. The responsibility rests with the priesthood -- stake presidencies and bishoprics -- to see that this leadership is provided and that every boy is reached.
And so, my brothers and sisters, we have a well-rounded program for the youth of the Church. And we are not dealing with ordinary young people. We are working with choice spirits who need the full Church program. We want them to have the benefit of this program in its fullness, that they might develop into the kind of young men and young women which the Lord would have them become. Of course, these programs are not ends in themselves. They are tools. They are a means to an end. The end is the salvation and exaltation of God's children.
But these programs are not optional programs. They are the youth program of the Church, approved by the leadership thereof. May God bless us, my brethren and sisters, that as leaders in Israel we may have the power and the inspiration to make our young people want to enjoy the full program of the Church offered through the Sunday School, the Primary, the M.I.A., and the Aaronic Priesthood program, that they might eventually meet the expectations of their parents, their Church leaders, and our Heavenly Father. God bless us to this end. God bless the youth of Israel everywhere, that they may grow and develop into sterling characters, faithful and true to this great latter-day work, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
