THE GOLDEN RULE. We need mercy; then let us be merciful. We need charity; let us be charitable. We need forgiveness; let us forgive. Let us do unto others what we would that they should do unto us. Let us welcome the new year and dedicate to it our best efforts, our loyal service, our love and fellowship, and our supplication for the welfare and happiness of all mankind.—Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 46, January, 1911, p. 16.
WHY THE WORLD DOES NOT LOVE US. "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John 15:19) The followers of Jesus were his chosen people, and because they were chosen by him, the world hated them. The Jews were the chosen people of God, and because they were his chosen people the world hated them. Nowhere in the world today is the word Jew wholly disassociated with the feeling of contempt. The feelings may differ greatly in degree, but they are all of one kind. The word "Mormon," or Latter-day Saint, is everywhere likewise associated with feelings of contempt. Contempt is the heritage of a chosen people. Ought we therefore to court the contempt of the world? By no means. On the other hand, we should not be discouraged because it comes to us unsought. Some of our friends—mostly in the Church, some few out of it—would lift us out of the contempt of the world, and keep us out of it, if we would simply be governed by their counsels. The truth is, we are not strangers to hatred; and the contempt of the world has been our lot so much that we have no reason to be discouraged when it comes, even in violent forms. The danger lies not so much in our own peculiarity as in the disposition of many of our people to court popularity at all costs, as if it were something devoutly to be wished for. There is too often a timid submission before the indignation storms that occasionally sweep over the country.—Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 39, August, 1904, p. 464.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Let us, brethren, love one another, and exercise patience and forbearance, avoiding judgment, except when called upon to render it, and then tempering the law with a father's love. The Latter-day Saints must be promoters of both law and religion, as exemplified in the justice and mercy of God.—Improvement Era, Vol. 6, 1903, p. 550.
KEEP ALOOF FROM THE WICKED. We should keep ourselves aloof from the wicked; the dividing line should be distinctly drawn between God and Belial, between Christ and the world, between truth and error, and between right and wrong. We ought to cleave to the right, to the good, to the truth, and forsake the evil.—Deseret Weekly News, Vol. 31, 1882, p. 674.
THE ENEMIES TO FEAR. For my part I do not fear the influence of our enemies from without, as I fear that of those from within. An open and avowed enemy, whom we may see and meet in an open field, is far less to be feared than a lurking, deceitful, treacherous enemy hidden within us, such as are many of the weaknesses of our fallen human nature, which are too often allowed to go unchecked, beclouding our minds, leading away our affections from God and his truth, until they sap the very foundations of our faith and debase us beyond the possibility or hope of redemption, either in this world or that to come. These are the enemies that we all have to battle with, they are the greatest that we have to contend with in the world, and the most difficult to conquer. They are the fruits of ignorance, generally arising out of unrebuked sin and evil in our own hearts. The labor that is upon us is to subdue our passions, conquer our inward foes, and see that our hearts are right in the sight of the Lord, that there is nothing calculated to grieve his Spirit and lead us away from the path of duty.
CHAPTER XIX
EDUCATION AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS
WE ARE EVER LEARNING. We are not "ever learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth." On the contrary, we are ever learning and are ever drawing nearer to a proper comprehension of the truth, the duty and the responsibility that devolve upon members of the Church who are called to responsible positions in it. Not only does this apply to those members who are called to act in responsible positions, but it applies to those who may be termed "lay members," if we may use such a term with reference to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.