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Danger of Unearned Praise

That was a most splendid tribute paid to the Latter-day Saints in the Senate of the United States, a full account of which we print in this issue of the Era. Moreover, it was well merited it was earned, through faithful toil and unselfishness, by the fathers and mothers of our commonwealth, the founders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and its early builders. It is due and deserved praise to their character and integrity, from a source unsolicited, yet the highest in the Nation. The times appear to have changed, and the feeling for the Latter-day Saints is geenrally one of good-will and fellowship, and even frequently of laudation. To some extent, the Latter-day Saints have come into their own, and are becoming better understood for their good works and excellent character. This is as it should be, and the credit cannot be overdone as far as our fathers and mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers are concerned. How about you and me, and the young men and women generally? We should not lay the flattering thought to our souls that all these compliments apply to us. But we rejoice, you and I, that this belated laudation for our ancestors, comes now, even though it may not apply to all of us. We are untried. We have yet our lives before us, but we have their foundation to build upon — a glorious foundation of faith, service, sacrifice and unselfishness. The young people of Zion have before them a greater task, perhaps, than had their fathers, mothers, and grandparents, notwithstanding the latter passed through many toils and tribulations, through poverty and distress, were persecuted and treated as outcasts, and battled with poverty and the deserts! We have our own problems, among them the misuse of the movies; the damnable tobacco and cigarette habit; the social problem, with its dancing, dirt, and disease; the misuse of the automobile, and of wealth; and the inclination to selfishness and disobedience. Let us not flatter ourselves, therefore, that these eulogies referred to were said of us, but rather inquire whether we are worthy of the good things that have come down to us from our parents and grandparents, to whom the praise is due. Let us also determine to do the work demanded of us in our

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time, by rightly solving the puzzling problems that lie before and all about us. Ours is a practical religion. While we have ample cause to stand on our present heights and view with gratitude and pride the achievements of the past, we must not forget that the present is full of grave responsibilities, not to say dangers, that should cause us to up and at our work, with bright eyes, cheery hearts, clean hands, and a firm determination to solve in righteousness the questions of the present, that our future may be filled with increased fruition. Let us take this to our hearts. We must not be weaklings, leaning on the past. The present is calling for our firm determination, care, sacrifice, and service. As young people of the Latter-day Saints we have a wonderful past upon which to build. A foundation has been laid that will save us, physically, morally, socially, and intellectually. We have a religion by which we may both live and die, that gives us comfort and cheer in the darkest hours, relieves the perplexities of the day, enables us to stand steadfast in prosperity, and leads us on to victory over sin and selfishness, finally landing us in the rest of God, by which we enter into the knowledge of his love, and obtain faith in his purposes and plans. But we have serious work to do, and that work must be done, and to do it requires our most strenuous efforts. We must not allow ourselves to be merged into the general mass, to be led hither and thither by every popular fad of the day. We must not allow compliments on the past to overcome our better jiv1 "ment, nor to turn our heads, so to speak, thinking they are meant for us. dangerous thing to feel that we are perhaps bet- It is a ter than we thought ourselves to be. Let the praise go to our parents, and let us take no flattery to ourselves, but rather, with firm determination resolve to surmount the temptations and evils of the times, and so save ourselves and earn the encomiums of the future, as our parents have already done. I seem to hear a hundred thousand young men and women answer: "We will!"—A.

Books — Romance of a Missionary a story of English life and missionary experiences, by Nephi Anderson, 190 pages, price 85c, at all booksellers. Missionary life and experiences have a universal appeal to the Latterday Saints, and in time they become a source of interest for future telling. Attached to the life of the particular missionary who is the hero of this story, are much romance, as well as many wonderful experiences. This may also be said of his converts to the gospel. Following is the theme developed in this, Nephi Anderson's latest and, some will say, most interesting