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David O. McKay The loss of fortune is nothing compared with the loss of home. When the club becomes more attractive to any man than his home, it is time for him to confess in bitter shame that he has failed to measure up to the supreme opportunity of his life and has flunked in the final test of true manhood. No other success can compensate for failure in the home. This is the one thing of limitless potentialities on earth. The poorest shack of a home in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and future humanity than the richest bank on earth. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles. David O. McKay Born: September 8, 1873 Died: January 18, 1970 Apostle: April 9, 1906 President: April 4, 1951 January 18, 1970
The Abundant Life This abundant life is obtained not only from spiritual exultation, but also bythe application to daily life of the principles that Jesus taught. These principles are few and simple and may, if desired, be applied by every normal person. The first of these, and the foundation upon which a true Christian society is built, is:Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and strength. A belief in a supreme Being who lives, and loves his children--a belief that gives power and vigor to the soul--an assurance that he can be approached for guidance, and that he will manifest himself to those who seek him. Another is: The acceptance of the truth that life is a gift of God, and therefore divine. The proper use of this gift impels man to become the master, not the slave, of nature. His appetites are to be controlled and used for the benefit of his health and the prolongation of life. His passions mastered and controlled for the happiness and blessing of others and the perpetuity of the race. A third principle is: Personal integrity. By this I mean, plain, everyday honesty, sobriety, and respect for others' rights, such as will win the confidence of one's fellows. This recognition applies to nations as well as to individuals. It is as wrong for a nation, because it is powerful, to steal from another and oppress it, as it is for an individual to rob and kill his neighbor. A fourth essential is: Social consciousness that awakens in each individual the realization that it is his duty to make the world better for his having been in it. David O. McKay
Composed of Little Things If you would be happy, obey the principles of the gospel. David O. McKay • There is no one great thing which we can do to obtain eternal life, and it seems to me that the great lesson to be learned in the world today is to apply in the little acts and duties of life the glorious principles of the gospel. Let us not think that because some of the things named this afternoon may seem small and trivial that they are unimportant. Life, after all, is made up of little things. Our life, our being, physically, is made up here of little heartbeats. Let that little heart stop beating, and life in this world ceases. The great sun is a mighty force in the universe, but we receive the blessings of its rays because they come to us as little beams, which, taken in the aggregate, fill the whole world with sunlight. The dark night is made pleasant by the glimmer of what seem to be little stars; and so the true Christian life is made up of little Christlike acts performed this hour, this minute, in the home, in the quorum, in the organization, in the town, wherever our life and acts may be cast. David O. McKay
Belief Must Becoming Behavior Of what value are the lofty principles of Christianity if they are not introduced into our daily lives? What good does it do, for example, to preach universal brotherhood, and then to step from the pulpit to the street and rail against and denounce any who should be included in this brotherhood? Race, creed, color, position, training--all contribute to the difficulty of making practical the universal charity taught by Christ and which pseudo-Christians profess to believe; but such profession without the practice only emphasizes the hypocrisy lurking in the heart of the pretender. It is not easy, I know, but the true Christian is he who exemplifies in his "acts," his "walks" and his "talks" that which his tongue says he believes. David O. McKay
Sociality and the Abundant Life The Church, with its complete organization, offers service and inspiration to all. It is "pre-eminently a social religion." In quorums and auxiliaries it "aims by training the individual conscience and will, to establish a closely knit world-wide fraternity." It is in no sense ascetic. Instead of taking men out of the world, it seeks to develop perfect, Godlike men in the midst of society, and through them to solve the problems of society. David O. McKay • The mission of the Latter-day Saints may be considered in two great aspects; one, the proclamation to the world of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ--the declaration to all mankind that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared in this dispensation to the Prophet Joseph Smith. That in itself is a wonderful message. The other great purpose of the Church is to translate truth into a better social order, or in other words, to make our religion effective in the individual lives of men, and in improving social conditions. David O. McKay
We Are Social Beings If priesthood meant only personal honor, blessing, or individual elevation, there would be no need of groups or quorums. The very existence of such groups established by divine authorization proclaims our dependence upon one another, the indispensable need of mutual help and assistance.We are, by divine right, social beings. David O. McKay • Man is a social being. God designed him to be such. From infancy to old age, he is dependent upon others for his development, education, and happiness. In the right kind of social groups, the more a man gives, the more he receives; the more he teaches, the more he learns; the more happiness he bestows, the happier he becomes. David O. McKay
Sociality is a Cornerstone of the Gospel Let us then as we draw our plans for Zion today choose what we may call the "four cornerstones of Zion's inhabitants." First: A firm belief and acceptance of the truth that this universe is governed by intelligence and wisdom, and, as Plato said, ". . . is not left to the guidance of an irrational and random chance." The second cornerstone is that the ultimate purpose in God's great plan is the perfecting of the individual. It is his desire that men and women become like himself. The third cornerstone is a realization that the first and most essential thing in man's progress is freedom--free agency. Man can choose the highest good, or choose the lowest good and fall short of what he was intended to be.The fourth cornerstone is a sense of responsibility toward other individuals and the social group. David O. McKay
Sociality is a Guiding Principle of the Gospel The guiding principles to the realization of the higher life are not many or complex. Indeed, they are few and simple, and can be applied by everyone in any phase of life. I. Recognition of the reality of spiritual values.II. Sense of obligation to the social group.III. Power of self-denial and the resultant self-mastery.IV.A consciousness that the ultimate purpose of life is the perfecting of the individual. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery and the Abundant Life Man has a dual nature: one, related to the earthly or animal life; the other, akin to the Divine. Whether a man remains satisfied within what we designate the animal world, satisfied with what the animal world will give him, yielding without effort to the whim of his appetites and passions and slipping farther and farther into the realm of indulgence, or whether, through self-mastery, he rises toward intellectual, moral, and spiritual enjoyments depends upon the kind of choice he makes every day, nay, every hour of his life. David O. McKay • Home is the center from which woman rules the world.It is there she teaches her child self-restraint, develops in him the confidence and strength that spring from self-control. It is there the child learns respect for the rights of others. It is in a well-directed home that men and women first develop a consciousness that true happiness lies in conforming one's life to the laws of nature and to the rules of social conduct. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery is Central to a Happy Home Let us resolve that from now on we are going to be men of higher and more sterling character, more conscious of our own weaknesses, more kind and charitable toward others' feelings. Let us resolve that we shall practice more self-control in our homes, control our tempers and our tongues, and control our feelings, that they may not wander beyond the bounds of right and purity, more seeking the presence of God, realizing how dependent we are upon him for success in the positions we hold in the Church. . . . As we depart, let us be more determined to make beautiful homes, to be kinder husbands, more thoughtful wives, more exemplary parents to our children determined that in our homes we are going to have just a little taste of heaven here on this earth. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery is Power General education would be much more effective in producing true manhood and pure womanhood if it gave more attention to the virtue of self-control and self-denial. The student who learns to control his appetites and desires, and to deny himself for the comfort and well-being of others, is more truly educated than the selfish, self-indulgent pedant. This self-mastery comes as the result of continuous overcoming--resisting a temptation of appetite this hour, overcoming a tempting desire the next. David O. McKay • The aim of education is to develop resources in the child that will contribute to his well-being as long as life endures; to develop power of self-mastery that he may never be a slave to indulgence or other weaknesses, to develop virile manhood, beautiful womanhood that in every child and every youth may be found at least the promise of a friend, a companion, one who later may be fit for husband or wife, an exemplary father or a loving intelligent mother, one who can face life with courage, meet disaster with fortitude, and face death without fear. David O. McKay • Chastity is the crown of beautiful womanhood, and self-control is the source of true manhood, if you will know it, not indulgence. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery is Power What our young people need, what every man and every woman in this world needs in order to keep himself or herself free and unspotted from the sins of the world, is the power of self-mastery.Each individual should studiously practise self-control. It does not come all at once. Nature never makes cash payments as a whole, says William George Jordan. Her payments are always made in small installments. Those who desire to win self-mastery must do it by constant application. David O. McKay • Learn the power and lesson of self-mastery. David O. McKay
We Should Seek Self-Mastery True education seeks, then, to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love--men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery & Personal Responsibility With free agency there comes responsibility. If a man is to be rewarded for righteousness and punished for evil, then common justice demands that he be given the power of independent action. A knowledge of good and evil is essential to man's progress on earth. If he were coerced to do right at all times or were helplessly enticed to commit sin, he would merit neither a blessing for the first nor punishment for the second. Thus we see that man's responsibility is correspondingly operative with his free agency. David O. McKay
Learn & Live the Gospel One thing though is clearly defined in my mind, and that is this: That we have greater responsibility than ever to learn and to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have greater tasks before us. The final work is not all done yet. You and I have the responsibility of taking advantage of these new and great opportunities to preach the gospel, of making real new visions, and of bringing into the lives of Latter-day Saints and members of the world more blessed opportunities to know the way of truth. David O. McKay
Reach Out to One Another There is another responsibility correlated and even coexistent with free agency, which is too infrequently emphasized, and that is the effect not only of a person's actions but also of his thoughts upon others. Man radiates what he is, and that radiation affects to a greater or lesser degree every person who comes within that radiation. David O. McKay •The responsibility is upon each individual to choose the path of righteousness, of faithfulness, and of duty to fellow men. If he chooses otherwise and as a result meets failure, misery, and death, he alone is to blame. David O. McKay • The noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make other lives better and happier. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery is the Architect's Tool Thoughts are the seeds of acts and precede them. Mere compliance with the word of the Lord, without a corresponding inward desire, will avail but little. Indeed, such outward actions and pretending phrases may disclose hypocrisy, a sin that Jesus most vehemently condemned. . . . I am trying to emphasize that each one is the architect of his own fate, and he is unfortunate, indeed, who will try to build himself without the inspiration of God, without realizing that he grows from within, not from without. David O. McKay
Self-Mastery & Sociality Bring Us to Christ True happiness is found in living the Christ's life--on Monday as well as on Sunday.He who is virtuous only at intervals proves that his pretended virtue is but a sham. Such a person lacks sincerity, the foundation of a true character, without which happiness is impossible. He who seeks for happiness alone seldom finds it, but he who lives, that is, who loses himself to give happiness to others, finds that a double portion has come to himself. Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carries with it the responsibility to overcome temptation, to battle error, to improve the mind, and to develop one's spirit until it comes to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. David O. McKay
