Sat
with the Council of the Twelve from 9:30 until 1 o’clock.
And so another year draws to its
close. Editorial writers have very generally had the thought that we can let
1930 go with few regrets. It has been a year of test and trial. It will be
remembered as one of combined disaster and blessing. The afflicting drought of
last summer is still a national problem, provision having to be made for the
agriculturalists who suffered so severely through that visitation. It was my
privilege this year to write the message of “Greeting” which is issued this
season by the First Presidency, and I incorporate a few of the paragraphs here:
“We cannot ignore the fact that this
particular Christmas is not a time of unalloyed contentment and happiness; for
notwithstanding the granaries of the nation are full, its storehouses stocked
to repletion, the balance of demand and distribution is deranged, so that want
and plenty exist side by side. The clouds of business depression are still
thick and lowering, and this means lack of individual employment and consequent
deprivation to the wage earner. Though much has been done by benevolent
institutions and through personal efforts of many who are giving unto the Lord
by ministering to His children, there are too many homes in which the specter
of want is ghastly visible.
“Such distress is not confined to
our own country; actual starvation is stalking through populous provinces in
lands beyond the western ocean. Industrial concerns are hampered and in many
cases stopped. The governments of nations are disturbed, and upheavals through
unrest are of frequent occurrence. The elements of Nature are angry; drought
and flood, earthquakes and storm, volcanic eruptions, disasters by land, sea
and air, are of almost daily report, while crime in hideous excess has become
the usual order.
“Oh, that mankind would recognize
and heed these signs of the times in their real import as the fulfillment of
prophecy made contingent on the persistence unrighteousness of the race! These
are the last days, foretold in Sacred Writ, through the Lord’s prophets of
ancient times and of the present dispensation.
“It is fitting as we memorialize the
mortal birth of the World’s Redeemer and Savior that we bear in mind and
prayerfully consider His predictions concerning the times in which we live, and
shape our lives in accordance therewith. “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places
and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh
quickly, saith the Lord.” (Doctrine and Covenants, 87:8.)
The problem of unemployment still
awaits solution in this country and abroad. The year has made a record for
calamities and distressful conditions; and one cannot resist the feeling that
the day of shaking – when all things that can be shaken shall be shaken – of
which the prophets have spoken, is upon us.
As a family we feel that we have
much to be thankful for, and we recognize the signs of the times as significant
and portentous, yet we rejoice as we witness the unfolding purposes of the Lord
our God. May the New Year witness the hastening of the Divine plan that the
consummation of the ages – the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment and
glory – may not be long deferred through the continued wickedness of men.
James
E. Talmage (James E. Talmage, Journal, December 31, 1930)
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