Dear Radio Friends: Our day is one of much confusion, uncertainty and fear. This unhappy condition is worldwide. Too many mature people look with sincere longing upon the past; youth on the threshold of life's activity are inclined to view the future with distrust. There is a feeling of helplessness in the air. The enthusiasms of life are vanishing.

This is neither natural nor normal. It darkens the day and clouds our every task. It develops slavery to unknown, dreaded forces. It is destructive of human joy

This should not be so. The new world, our world, made one by audible, visual and physical communication, and by the free interchange of personal opinion, should yield days of such satisfactions as have not been known before.

There is evil in the world, ever designing to destroy humanity. That goes without saying. Evil offered itself to the first man; it will pound, however uselessly, on the ears of the last. Evil forces, in whatever disguise, must be fought, desperately if needs be, and brought to their knees; else life's sweetness will disappear. This battle between right and wrong, between good and bad, has been waged, and often has raged, through the generations of time, and will continue to the end.

Normal men, made in the image of God, have always accepted cheerfully the challenge of evil as a part of life. The battle really has given zest to existence. Moreover, and this gives courage to weak man, history records that in every struggle evil has gradually been defeated and at length has been beaten down.

Incarnate evil, despite its assiduous endeavors, has always lost ground. Finally victory has been on the side of right.

Thereby has come man's marvelous conquest over surrounding forces, and the steady improvement in the last few hundred years of the conditions of the human race. Always, if on the side of righteousness, man has managed to banish the gilded tyranny of evil.

Yet, despite the lessons of the past, fear, unnecessary fear, lurks in many human breasts. What of tomorrow? is shouted by the forces of evil. In the consequent din is forgotten the glorious promise that "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"  Matt. 6:34 Forgotten also is the ancient truth that fear is the devil's first and chief weapon. Make a man or a nation afraid, and his strength like that of Samson shorn of his locks, is gone. He is no longer useful in the work of the world. He becomes a tool of the unholy forces which seek to destroy mankind.

Gideon, mighty man of ancient Israel, was called to rescue his people from a seven-year oppression by the Midianites and associated people. He raised therefore an army of thirty-two thousand men to fight the enemy. But in those days, as in ours, battles were won not by numbers but by men of quality. So he was commanded to proclaim:

"Whosoever is fearful and afraid let him return. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand . . ."  Judg. 7:3

It was a high percentage. It is probably as high in the world today. Nevertheless Gideon's army was stronger because the faithful ones were left. Fear never fails to lead a man or a group of people to weakness and to ultimate failure.

The fears of man are legion. They float to the surface from submerged corners in our consciousness. They are often the products of our imagination.

Really what have we to fear? Physical destruction perhaps, first. We are naturally afraid of pain. We look with dread, for example, upon the A-bomb, and the theoretical H-bomb, and other devices of somewhat lesser horror, produced by the misuse of powers placed in the hands of man. At the worst, their effects will be local, and minimized as the common sense of the nations develops.

The frequent, recent fear arises that a day may come when the whole world will be annihilated by an atomic chain reaction. That is an idle fear. It is not yet within the power of man and may never be. The earth is old; the stars in the sky made of earth-like elements are old. Earth and stars have long hung in space. The universe is not going to explode into atomic rays—not in our day—of that we may be certain. That fear is groundless and with the accompanying dread should be cast out.

Civilized man needs food and clothing and shelter. In the turmoil of the new day, he fears that he may be deprived of these necessities. He forgets that the earth has not changed, except in spots. As the seasons come and go, the needs of man will be supplied by mother earth as in the past, if man does his part. It is easy to awaken a fear; as easy to banish it if reasonable thinking is used.

Then there is the fear of other men—people with the wrong conception of life, to whom a neighbor is but a tool with which to protect themselves, often to satisfy their lusts. To them life has no meaning beyond the flesh of the day. They do not know the spiritual world, which is the greater and more powerful world. Such travelers in the muck of life promise much to gain their ends, but keep no promise. Such men are more dangerous than material weapons, however horrible.

Usually evil philosophies use evil material tools. The great danger in these philosophies is, however, that they simulate truth. They are deceiving; and by their deceit often secure as adherents otherwise honest people. We should for our protection uncover these masked devils.

Here also, fear is rule. Righteous men if united are masters of their generation and can and should cast out all such fears, and should sternly set about to root out such weeds of existence. False teachings fall before truth.

It would be better for man's happiness to substitute for such fears a proper control of the use of his powers, whether of his natural endowment, or those that have been discovered by the patient searchers for truth.

For example, there should be less glibness about the use of atomic energy in warfare, and more about its possible use in peaceful arts. More should be said about the futility of war with its devilish destruction of human life and property. More should be said about the nobility of man, and his possible Godlike approach when he uses his time, talents and power to supply natural human needs. Whenever that is done, much fear will disappear. More should be said about the good earth and its willingness to yield bountifully to man's toil.

An evil philosophy of life can best be stifled when it is given no corner in the discussions of men. Clubs would do better to discuss the principles of our own free government than the remote doctrine of an ancient poet. Whether fear shall engulf us or not is a matter in our own hands.

Men who lay aside fear become the masters of the day.

It is a pity that many who allow themselves to fear seek refuge in the temporary forgetfulness that follows the satisfaction of unnatural appetites. Instead of a wise and intelligent approach to the apparently difficult problems of life, multitudes have turned to nerve whipping drugs, which often have become daily companions, or to the shame of immorality, or to the mania of chance. To such persons, fear may temporarily be lost in the brutality or sinful indulgences, but it remains under cover to poison the full joy of life. There is no happy future for mankind, no removal of fear, while in the society of sin.

More terribly fear-begetting is the doctrine that the world in which we live is purposeless.

Freedom from fear comes only when the earth and all upon it are conceived to be expressions of a mighty divine purpose. The unhappy ones of this age, which is full of possible joy, usually can see no purpose in life. That is a great calamity, perhaps the greatest in human lives. The Lord placed his children on earth in his love for them and for their good. They are here in harmony with this mighty divine purpose.

Our purposeful world is under the direction of the Lord. It cannot be conceived that the Master would place his children on earth and then forget them! That is not the method of Divinity Chance does not rule in the heavens or on earth. Men who harbor fear may rest assured that in the providences of the Lord, righteousness will triumph on earth. The Lord's purposes will prevail. That knowledge drives out fear. The highest attainable joy of man, of any man, is the certainty that he lives in a purposeful world made for his good. Fear cannot dwell with such a faith.

Those who do not believe in a purposeful world are to be pitied. They cast God out of their lives. They are atheists, creatures without home or anchorage. Thrown back upon themselves, upon their own weak powers, with no help but that of men, such persons are unspeakably lonely. Fears overtake them, and force them to seek unnatural excitements. The convictions of such men rest upon insecure foundations. They cannot be safely followed.

The confusion and contention, the uncertainty in the world come from the failure to take God into partnership in the acts of our daily lives. We must battle for the right, if needs be. Give evil no quarter. To put trust in God, when we have done our best, is the final refuge of mortal man. Men must give heed to God's voice, as heard through the centuries. If that is done, all is well; but when the Lord is forgotten, disaster overflows the world.

All who have fear in their hearts should turn willingly to him who created the earth and all upon it. The wise ones of old have warned us. When ancient Israel was depressed, as many are today, Moses spoke to them:

Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee  Deut. 31:6

And David, king of Israel, completed the thought:

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord  Ps. 27:14

Though all this is true, all who seek to drive away fear, must be active in the battle. Evil, the cause of fear, will turn to good only as righteousness prevails. The Lord will solve all earthly problems only as man makes himself worthy of divine help. Men must be anxiously engaged in a good cause"  D&C 58:27 the cause of the Lord.

We must be vocal in our opposition to evil, we must be eager to cast evil out from among us. In the home circle, in our churches, in our places of toil, wherever we walk and talk, as members of society and as citizens of our land, we must stand as enemies of evil. There must be no yielding to the whisperings from the dungeons of existence. Then the Lord will add his power and his blessings; fear will flee.

We need everywhere throughout our sunlit land men who are strong enough for righteousness to face the enemy.

When Gideon of old was left with only ten thousand unafraid men, other tests were given this remainder of his large army. Gideon could take no chances. The cause, the freedom of his people, was too great. So he watched his men.

When the army, marching in the heat of the day, crossed a creek, some loitered, took their time, lay down to drink; others, however, only three hundred of the ten thousand, eager to meet the enemy could not wait; they merely cupped their hands and drank as they marched hurriedly along. They caused no delay. These three hundred became Gideon's army; the others were sent home. With these three hundred Gideon won glorious victories  Judg. 7:4-7

With such men, in any day, every fear vanishes.

The feeling of depression that bows down many of our people today should be replaced by a song of courageous gladness. The Lord is at the helm. Therefore, we should be full of courage. Our task is to keep the law of the Lord, to reject every evil offering, and to assist eagerly in the solution of present-day problems. Then we can safely trust the future. Then we shall no longer be afraid. Those who may suffer will be those who will not do these things.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.