I am grateful for the opportunity to talk with you today. I also deeply appreciate Sister Eyring’s message of faith and optimism. She embodies those qualities to a remarkable degree. She has always been naturally upbeat, to the great benefit of all who know her—especially me.
I’d like to build on Sister Eyring’s theme of optimism. Based on news media reports and other messages received each day, we might naturally conclude that the world is becoming increasingly wicked and hostile. Addiction, immorality, mental illness, and other threats to individuals and families are often described as “epidemic.” Political strife and social divisions seem to be on the rise. Perhaps most concerning is the decline of marriage and childbearing, which are vital to Heavenly Father’s plan for our happiness.
The Apostle Paul foresaw our day and warned us accordingly. He told his missionary companion Timothy:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. [1]
That’s a long, discouraging list of undesirable human tendencies. Yet, paradoxically, many of the prophesied sins and woes we see multiplying in this world are the product of increased individual freedom and the power to choose. An electronic device, for example, can be a godsend, a tool for gaining education and engaging in commerce. But it can also ensnare us in mindless gaming and morally destructive pornography, stealing our time and potentially our virtue. Instant, inexpensive access to information is a sword that cuts two ways.
Moreover, electronic devices can become spiritual weapons in the hands of what the 89 th section of the Doctrine and Covenants identifies as “conspiring men in the last days.” [2] There is a growing trend among news purveyors to emphasize strife, sin, and sorrow. Even seemingly reputable news agencies are increasingly focused on the worst of human behavior. I’m frequently reminded of a Primary song that Sister Eyring and I sing often in sharing time. It’s called “Follow the Prophet.” You may recall two lines from the final verse of that song:
Now we have a world where people are confused.
If you don’t believe it, go and watch the news. [3]
Fortunately, thanks to our modern-day prophets, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are blessed with a different, more optimistic view of the world. For example, in 1999 President Gordon B. Hinckley said this:
There never was a greater time in the history of the world to live upon the earth than this. How grateful every one of us ought to feel for being alive in this wonderful time with all the marvelous blessings we have. . . .
And on top of all that is the Restoration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with all of the keys and authority, with all the gifts and blessings, with the organization and doctrine of all previous dispensations all brought into one. And you and I are partakers of that marvelous restoration. [4]
Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, is likewise optimistic. In his first general conference as president of the Church, he recognized the challenges we face, including bombardment by negative news stories and false philosophies. President Nelson reminded us of the need to rely on the direction of the Holy Ghost. But he also said this:
I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. . . .
Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. [5]
In fact, notwithstanding today’s constant barrage of temptation and frightening news reports, on many dimensions our world is getting steadily and even speedily better. For example, since the beginning of the twentieth century, infant mortality has decreased by 93 percent. [6] At that time, the three leading causes of death in the United States were pneumonia, tuberculosis, and intestinal infections. Today, thanks to medical innovations, none of those diseases are among the top ten causes of death. [7] Life expectancy in the U.S. has increased by roughly 30 years. [8] And the years of life gained have been even greater in other countries. [9]
Today our quality of life is also much better. Though authoritarianism and even slavery persist, we human beings are treating one another better. Had you and I lived just prior to 1950, we’d have had only a 10-percent chance of living in a democratic country, compared to more than 50 percent today. [10] People are freer now than ever before.
In addition, we are increasingly conquering ignorance. At the turn of the twentieth century, only 21 percent of the world’s population were literate; as of 2014, that number had grown to 85 percent, a four-fold increase. [11]
Of course, freedom and knowledge are two-edged swords. Thieves and swindlers can use high-tech means to steal and defraud as never before. But violent crime is less common. For example, in the United States the homicide rate fell by 50 percent between 1990 and 2010. [12] All forms of violent crime in the U.S. have decreased similarly. [13] And notwithstanding the proliferation of massively destructive nuclear weapons since World War II, humankind has seen a steep decline in warfare. [14]
As the human family becomes more disease-free, democratic, educated, and non-violent, life expectancy should continue to increase. Pessimists note that an aging population will need increasingly expensive healthcare, and their financial welfare will depend heavily on their personal spending and saving habits. But growing global wealth and continuous innovation should ease the financial burden of caring for the elderly.
And, in fact, these senior citizens are likely to contribute disproportionately to the overall welfare of humankind. Researchers have found that people become more generous with advanced age. [15] The elderly also have the spiritual advantage of decreased physical passion and increased wisdom, much of it gained through a lifetime of both good and bad experiences. As Professor Derrel Higgins noted in his wonderful December devotional address, these long-lived people have benefitted from both pleasant and painful experiences. In general, they are a growing force for compassion and fairness in the world.
This force of mature citizens is a blessing both to themselves and to the rising generation. As they participate in the political process and donate their time and worldly treasure, they make it more likely that democracy, education, and peace will further spread.
The growing strength and global footprint of the Church is also a powerful force for good and a reason for optimism. The Church is legally recognized in more countries than ever, with more members and more temples. Its doctrines can be studied in 188 languages.
The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a boon to all people, even those who are unaware of its existence. To those of us blessed by a testimony of the gospel, it seems more than coincidence that democracy, technological innovation, industrialization, and public education began to flower as never before in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was then that the way was opened for the restoration of priesthood power and the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Of course, in subsequent years war raged as never before. The technological discoveries that allowed humankind to master the physical elements also created means to wreak destruction on a global scale. In nothing was that more evident than the discovery and harnessing of nuclear energy. Scientific pioneers, including Marie Curie, unwittingly gave their lives to explore the power of radioactivity. But succeeding generations of nuclear scientists found ways to understand and harness this power.
Unfortunately, their initial emphasis was on nuclear bombs, which proved destructively decisive in the World War II surrender of Japan. Having discovered the almost inconceivable power of these weapons, the United States and the Soviet Union launched a nuclear arms race that escalated beyond imagination. At the high point, in 1986, the global arsenal included more than 64,000 nuclear warheads. Even more frightening was the imbalance between the Soviet Union’s 40,000 bombs and the United States’ mere 23,000, which created a theoretical advantage for the Soviets and seemed likely to keep the arms race going. [16]
Yet something remarkable happened in the mid-1980s, thanks largely to the world’s most powerful leaders at that time, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After several years of negotiation, they agreed to dramatic reductions in nuclear missiles. Today, there are still too many nuclear weapons, enough to destroy the world and then some. But the situation is far less dire than it was thirty years ago, with reason to hope for further progress.
Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev were recognized around the world for their leadership; Mr. Gorbachev won a Nobel Peace Prize. Yet it was not the first time that a Soviet leader had taken grave political risks to prevent nuclear war. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the world was saved widespread destruction and perhaps annihilation by the bravery of a single Soviet military officer.
Many people know something of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tense, thirteen-day standoff between the United Sates and the Soviet Union. The crisis was triggered by the discovery that the Soviets had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, close enough to destroy many of the largest U.S. cities. In fairness, it should be noted that U.S. missiles in Turkey posed a similar threat to the Soviet Union.
The story of tense and ultimately successful negotiations between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is well known. Both leaders rose above their own immediate political interests, as well as pressures from their respective military advisers, to save the world from nuclear devastation.
But it was forty years before historians learned of a similarly heroic decision, made in the moment by one Soviet sailor under hard-to-imagine pressure. [17] Vasili Arkhipov, son of Russian peasants, was aboard a submarine armed with a nuclear torpedo when, during the Cuban missile crisis, his sub was discovered by U.S. warships. An aircraft carrier and 11 destroyers collaborated in trying to capture Vasili’s submarine. The U.S. vessels dropped explosive depth charges meant to disable the sub, or at least terrify the crew to the point of surrendering. A crew member later likened the bombardment to “sitting in a metal barrel, which somebody is constantly blasting with a sledgehammer.” [18]
The captain and his crew had not received any communication from Moscow for several days. Moreover, in an attempt to avoid capture, they had dived to a depth that prevented receiving news from U.S. commercial radio stations, which they had been monitoring during the escalating crisis. As far as they knew, war had broken out.
The Soviet captain and a ranking officer agreed that they should launch their nuclear torpedo against the U.S. warships. Ordinarily, agreement by these two leaders would have been enough to take this action. But Vasili, a fleet officer, happened to be aboard that sub. Because of his status, firing a nuclear weapon required his approval as well.
Fortunately, Vasili knew firsthand the deadly effects of nuclear radiation. Just a year earlier, he had been an officer on a nuclear submarine when the reactor that powered it developed a coolant leak and threatened to melt down. To prevent that catastrophe, which would have killed everyone aboard, the captain ordered the seven members of his engineering crew to enter the reactor compartment and make a temporary fix to the cooling system. They succeeded, but at the cost of their lives: within a month all seven men were dead, having suffered unimaginably. In the ensuing two years, fifteen more sailors on that sub died of radiation poisoning. Vasili himself felt the effects of irradiation, though he did not immediately die from it.
In that awful moment of truth in the depths of the ocean near Cuba, with the lives of his fellow sailors at risk and his military career likely to be ruined for apparent cowardice, Vasili brought his providential personal experience to bear. His mental faculties were, like those of everyone aboard the submarine, compromised by temperatures of 120 degrees and a buildup of carbon dioxide due to the failure of the air conditioning system. After four hours of this torture, Vasili’s fellow sailors were passing out. [19]
But Vasili had seen worse conditions. He no doubt recalled the deaths of his fellow sailors the year before. He likely imagined a world poisoned by radiation, with only the luckier victims dying immediately, and with generations suffering various degrees of poisoning.
Providentially, Vasili prevailed. The submarine surfaced on what proved to be the very day, October 27, when President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to the removal of their nuclear missiles from Turkey and Cuba, respectively. Nuclear war was averted. The projected deaths of one-third of humanity did not occur. The world continued on its increasingly peaceful and prosperous trajectory.
News reports of the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis didn’t include the miracles of providential wisdom, faith, and self-sacrifice that came to light only decades later. By then, most purveyors of news weren’t interested. Vasili’s story was old and subtle and heart-warming, not a likely subject for news headlines. When his courage was finally made public forty years after the fact at a missile crisis conference, a leading news agency declared: “Former U.S. and Russian officials and military officers who met Friday to study the 1962 Cuban missile crisis gave President Bush bad marks for his handling of today’s Iraq events.” [20]
As this episode demonstrates, the news that really matters can be hard to find in the media. But it is all around us. And it is encouraging. Consider, for example, this hypothetical headline: “Today billions of people overcame unmet personal needs and sorrows and lived according to law and conscience. They did it yesterday, and they are likely to do it in greater numbers tomorrow.” That headline has little chance of appearing in the news media. But it is true and very newsworthy.
There are other headlines we should always bear in mind. The gospel has been restored, to the benefit of all people, even those who do not know of it. Gospel light is driving out darkness and spurring beneficial innovation. That has been increasingly true since the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Faithful Church members benefit most. Yet the influence of gospel principles is a boon to all people, especially those who are seeking for eternal truth but do not yet know where to find it. The Spirit can work upon them and begin to change their natures. Particularly as you leave this campus and make your way in the world, such people will be drawn to you. President Henry B. Eyring foresaw this in his talk “A Steady, Upward Course.” In speaking to all BYU-Idaho students, he declared:
We will have a spiritual outpouring, because of your faith and the faith of the faculty and those who lead here, that will lead us to be legendary in terms of our capacity to teach and to learn and in our capacity to innovate without needing the resources that others have to have in order to be the remarkable contributors you’re going to be. And that’s going to follow you everywhere you go.
I hope I live long enough to someday meet some employer who employed one of you and says, “Where did that come from? I’ve never had such a person. Why people just flock around that person. And they want to follow. They don’t have to be led; they’re seeking to go where that person wants to go. [21]
President Eyring’s prophecy is being fulfilled through you and your BYU-Idaho predecessors. You are set to become powerful natural leaders. But we must remember that the stratagems of our adversary are becoming subtler. He and his forces have been at their devilish work for a long time, and they work around the clock. Yet angels can attend the just women and men of the world, and the Saints can be clad with invincible spiritual power. The Savior is coming. Lucifer faces certain defeat.
Until then, though, we must be steadfast and immovable. I saw that in a wise owl this past summer. On June 21 of 2018, I made this journal entry:
My office day began with a weekly one-on-one with [Academic Vice President] Kelly Burgener. He consented to join me in the Ricks Gardens, where we had a table to ourselves in a stone alcove, enjoying the shade of a giant cottonwood tree.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the tree to ourselves, as a large crow had chosen a branch directly above us as his perch. The crow’s presence would have gone unnoticed had it not been for his constant, ear-splitting cawing.
I looked up several times, in annoyance, before noticing the crow’s reason for making such a ruckus. No more than a foot from the crow sat a motionless owl, whose mottled plumage matched the hue and texture of the cottonwood’s bark. The crow was clearly engaged in a turf war with the owl. But the owl seemed unconcerned, even oblivious.
For much of my hour with President Burgener, I wished that the owl would fly off or perhaps give the crow a piece of its mind, even brandish a talon. But I finally recognized the obvious moral of this story. The owl must have known that its far greater strength, as well as its sharper talons and beak, made the crow’s bluster irrelevant. There was no need to waste any energy or plumage on the mocking crow.
That is a marvelous metaphor for any work we do in the Lord’s service. Because of the importance of the work, noisy crows will inevitably gather and threaten. But they pose no real threat. They can impede our progress only if we make the mistake of engaging them or merely becoming distracted from our destination. The proverbial dogs may bark, but the Lord’s caravan moves on.
Though I still enjoy singing the Primary song “Follow the Prophet,” there are two lines that I now sing differently in my mind, making small but significant changes to the song’s reference to “news.” These are my modified words:
Now we have a world where tempters would confuse.
If you want to prosper, don’t just trust the news.
I have asked Reilly Hessing to join me at the podium for a moment. Reilly, your discussion board post indicates you have found a way to find light in an increasingly dark world.
Reilly: I talked about how I don’t always enjoy reading the news because everybody always seems to be angry with somebody and the world can seem like a really depressing, dark place if you look at just the headlines. But if I take the time to read the smaller headlines and to look at the stories of others and people who are ordinary just like me and you and who are trying to do the right thing and who good things happen for, then I’m reminded that the world isn’t such a terribly dark place and that things aren’t as bad as they seem.
Thank you.
As Reilly said, the real news, the news that matters now and forever, is that our Savior has overcome the world. [22] On many days that will be hard to see, not only in the media but also in our personal lives. Yet the hand of the Lord is always visible if we strive to see it, as Elisha did when he saw the mantle of Elijah drop from the chariot of fire that took him up to heaven.
Notwithstanding the persistent evil attendant to the sophistries of Satan and the weaknesses of humankind, the world is getting better. The evils and contentions portrayed in the news are fewer than the many untold stories of steady, selfless heroes such as Vasili Arkhipov and each of you.
As we strive to see the small but significant miracles and divine power given to us each day, our spiritual eyes will be opened to eternal realities, especially as we make a personal record of what we have been shown daily by the Holy Ghost. Almost immediately, our spiritual eyesight will grow sharper and our fears duller.
May we be blessed to share President Nelson’s optimism about the future. Miracles are occurring, not only at the level of governments and scientific discoveries but also in individual daily lives. The Lord is able to do His own work. [23] The future will indeed bring, in President Nelson’s words,
[O]pportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. . . .
Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. [24]
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 89:4.
[3] “Follow the Prophet,” Children’s Songbook, 110.
[4]Church News, Aug. 13, 1999, 7.
[5] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign, May 2018.
[6] “The Challenge of Infant Mortality: Have We Reached a Plateau?,” U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009; ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2728659.
[7] “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 30, 1999; cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4829a1.htm#fig1.
[8] “1900-2000: Changes In Life Expectancy In The United States,” SeniorLiving.org; seniorliving.org/history/1900-2000-changes-life-expectancy-united-states/.
[9] “Life expectancy,” Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy#/media/File:Life_Expectancy_at_Birth_by_Region_1950-2050.png.
[10] “Share of world citizens living under different political systems (1816-2015),” Our World in Data; slides.ourworldindata.org/war-and-violence/#/14.
[11] Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, “Global Rise of Education,” Our World in Data; ourworldindata.org/global-rise-of-education.
[12] “Homicides per 100,000 people per year,” Our World in Data; ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/homicide-rates-in-the-united-states-1950-2010-and-canada-1961-2009-pinker-2011-jpg.jpg.
[13] John Gramlich, “5 facts about crime in the U.S.,” Pew Research Center; pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/30/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/.
[14] Max Roser, “War and Peace,” Our World in Data; ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace.
[15] Gigi Falk, "The Science Behind Why We Get More Generous With Age,” Medium, June 20, 2017; medium.com/thrive-global/the-science-behind-why-we-get-more-generous-with-age-ebb83c7f9cc8.
[16] “Number of nuclear warheads in the inventory of the nuclear powers,” Our World in Data; ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-nuclear-warheads-in-the-inventory-of-the-nuclear-powers.
[17] Vasili’s story is taken primarily from his Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov#Personal_life.
[18] Matthew Hay Brown, “Soviet sub was set to attack U.S. in 1962,” The Morning Call, Oct. 12, 2002; mcall.com/all-soviet1012-story.html.
[19] Ibid.
[20] “Former Officials Fault Bush on Handling of Iraq Events,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 12, 2002; articles.latimes.com/2002/oct/12/world/fg-cuba12.
[21]Henry B. Eyring, “A Steady, Upward Course,” BYUI devotional, Sept. 18, 2001; www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2001_09_18_Eyring.htm.
[22] See John 16:33.
[23] See 2 Nephi 27:20.
[24] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign, May 2018.