--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Jensen, Nephi collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 26 number: 3 published: 1923-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Nephi Jensen, "The Strongest Thing in the World", *Improvement Era* 26, no. 3 (January 1923): 273–277.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2603unse start_page: 273 end_page: 277 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1923-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse publication_year: 1923 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1923, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Strongest Thing in the World The Strongest Thing in the World By Nephi Jensen, President of the Canadian Mission We had reached the summit of a high, rocky hill above the city of Quebec. Far below us the St. Lawrence, in quiet majesty, moved towards the sea. Just to our right, and near by, stood the great Victoria Bridge with its marvelous cantilever structure, spanning 680 feet of the distance across the river, without a single support. As we turned together to look at this marvel of engineering, my companion remarked: "Isn't it won- derful what man can do with steel! It is the strongest thing in the world." "But is it?" I quietly asked. My compaion was silent. In a moment a great ocean going steamship came around the bend of the river and started under the bridge. The ship was a living, moving picture of strength and security. My young friend got another inspiration. With his eyes fixed firmly upon the iron sides, he said: "There is another monument to the greatness of our age of Iron. Within the thick steel walls of that ship people can laugh at the furious forces of nature." I did not feel disposed to doubt this last statement. But I was still thinking of his more sweeping remark when he referred to the bridge. And I ventured again to ask: "But is steel the strongest thing in the world?" "There is no doubt about it," he answered, with the positive- ness that characterizes the age just before the attainment of maturity. "But let us see," I argued. "You cannot make a soul secure against sin with iron walls. There is no material thing strong enough to weld together a broken resolution. You cannot bridge the chasm between man and God with steel. Are we not com- pelled to look into the human soul for the strongest thing in the world?" "Oh, well, in the realm of mind, of course, will is the strong- est thing." I was still unconvinced. I really wanted to argue. But the attractions about us shifted our conversation to other things. The discussion which the sights about Quebec broke off, I have determined to continue with a pencil on this paper. Even though I shall be guilty of tautology I am going to ask again, 274 IMPROVEMENT ERA Is the will the strongest thing in the soul? Let us think about it. I cannot say, "I will," until I can say, "I can." Moreover, if I am rightly disposed, I will never say "I will" until I can say "I ought." The certain conviction that a thing can be, and ought to be done is the stuff of which, "will" is made. That convic- tion is faith. Back of will is faith. Back of faith is the God of Truth! Faith is the strongest thing in the world! The Eternal Bridge "Faith is the key to knowledge rare, The priceless gift of God to man." Nor is this mere poetry. It is the statement of a great fact. Faith is literally the key of knowledge. What does one do when he learns something new? He crosses the chasm between the known and the unknown. There is no other way. Take an illustration. When Morse commenced to experiment with tele- graphy he knew one important thing. He knew that a wire charged with electricity would act simultaneously, the same way at both ends. But a wide gulf separated between this known fact and the unknown fact that the two ends of the wire could be made to write the same characters at the same time. How to cross this chasm was Morse's problem. Reason could not take him across. Reason had never been that way. He could cross only on the bridge of faith. For faith is the only bridge that can span the gulf between the known and the unknown. The forgotten geographers who were contemporaries with the discoverer of America, knew as well as Columbus that the earth is round. Why didn't these book students of geography seek to find a shorter route to the riches of the East Indies? They lacked the spiritual insight that gives to the mind the larger meaning of the unseen and unknown. They could only see what was within the range of their eyes. They could only understand what reason, by its slow and devious processes, made manifest to them. These cloistered students of geography sat in their rooms timidly hugging close to, and slowly reasoning about the rotundity of the earth. What did Columbus possess that his contemporaries did not have? Faith. He had a deeper certainty of the earth's rotundity than the book students of geog- raphy. But he also had the power to quickly and intuitively see the larger meaning of this known fact. Like a flash he dashed from the thought, "The earth is round" to the practical conclu- sion: "If the earth is round, then East Indies is right out there in the Atlantic Ocean, and I can sail west and find its shores." This ability, quickly to see the larger significance of what is known and intuitively infer the unknown from the known with- THE STRONGEST THING IN THE WORLD 275 out the slow process of ordinary analysis, is faith. It is the most powerful faculty of the mind. It is by faith we find God. Nothing but faith is strong enough to bridge the gulf between man and his Maker. We cannot see God through the telescope. We cannot discover him in the microscope. He is not to be found in the crucible. No processes of analysis can reveal him. Reason may strive for the knowledge, but it will strive in vain. The prophet's age- old challenge still stands: "Canst thou by searching find out God?" It is by living faith we reach the Divine. Only through pure communion with God, in devout trusting prayer, can we learn to know the Creator to perfection. The Shield Faith is the armor of the soul. No walls of stone can make the soul secure against the forces of evil. No iron doors can make the heart safe from the blasts of sin. Nor can the unaided human will hold the tempter at defiance. Only the super-human, strength which faith adds to the heart can give the victory of the eternal fight with the unseen foes. Well did the apostle say, "Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Every temptation speaks in Satan's original words. "It is desirable." Only the abiding conviction that good is more desirable than e\il can disarm the tempter. When one is tempt- ed to falsify, what is it that maintains the soul's integrity to truth? It is the certain belief that truth will always be "nobler than a crown." When one is enticed to be dishonest what is it that kills the evil thought? It is the deep assurance that honor will give a grace and glory to character in the countless days of the unveiling years. When impure thoughts seek for entrance into the heart, what is it that shuts the door of the soul against the terrible intruder? It is the soul-rooted faith that pure and holy thoughts and desires prepare the soul for the eternal com- pany of the Gods. Faith is the enduring citadel of the soul. As long as sovereign faith is master of the heart, our lives will inevitably follow the path of honor, purity and rectitude back to God. The Anchor What is it that holds the soul true to truth? "Ideals," an- swers the educator. But his answer only suggests a question that asks for a deeper answer. What is it that gives vitality to our ideals? Faith ! It is faith that keeps our "wagon hitched" to the star of our best desires. "He that wavereth is like a wave driven with the wind and tossed." Only the faithful are 276 IMPROVEMENT ERA steadfast and immovable in their aspirations for the higher things. In the struggle for the best, faith is the very strength of strength. Faith is the moral gravity of the universe. It holds the soul in the majestic poise of rectitude in the orbit of truth. The faithless, are careless and reckless. The doubters waver and wander astray. But those who have full trust in the God of truth and right are as immovable as the rock of ages. They see with un dimmed eyes the distant high goal, and turn neither to the right nor to the left. There is no sentiment, ethics, or phil- osophy that can take the place of the deep solemn thought: "There is a life that never ends; there is a great, just omnipo- tent Judge; and my every thought, aspiration, and act today either offends, or glorifies, the One who holds all things in the hollow of his hand." This thought of thoughts is the back bone of every great character. Well did the poet say: "Yet, in the maddening maze) of things, And tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed stake my spirit clings; I know that God is good! "I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air, 1 "nly know I can not drift Beyond his love and care." The Power Faith is power. "All things are possible to those who be- lieve." So said the greatest of all teachers. Nor are these words mere dogma. Those who really accepted them found them to be literally true. The woman who had been afflicted for twelve years was one of the noble few. When she saw Christ walking along the street, she said in her heart, "If I may but touch his garment, I shall be healed." She touched the hem of his garment. She was instantly healed. What wrought the marvelous cure? Mark the Master's words: "Thy faith hath made thee whole." Martha, the sister of Lazarus, had even a bigger soul. After the death of her brother, Jesus came to her home. When he appeared she exclaimed, out of the greatness of her heart : "Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died." Her heart was so pure, so true and so strong that she believed that if Jesus had been present when the burning fever was consuming the very vitals of her brother, the Master's word would have quenched the devouring flame. But there was in her soul even a stronger hope. For she added: "But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." These are some THE STRONGEST THING IN THE WORLD 277 of the strongest words ever spoken. They came from a heart that was deep enough and big enough, to believe that one word from the Master would rob death of its prize and compel the grave to give up its tenant. What perfect trust! What marve- lous hope! What bigness of soul! What could stand in the way of such deep confidence in God? No wonder the Master said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall re- move; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." The Re-Birth of Faith Jesus the Christ was the great teacher and exemplar of this super-faith. He bequeathed it as a priceless legacy to his trusting disciples. They handed it on to a few others. These others preserved it for a while. But, alas, these soon commenced to waver. They found it easier to trust in a relic of a real saint than to retain the real faith of a Saint. Then came the practice of wearing a metallic cross on the person. People found it easier to hold on to a cross, worn on the person than to hold on to the unseen God and his promises. The images of saints came next. Faint hearted Christians found it easier to mumble words before a metallic likeness of an apostle, than to speak trustingly, as the apostles did, to the living God. So faith dwindled and died. Superstition took its place. On its train came the dark- ness, ignorance and barbarism of the middle ages. But a brighter day has followed the dark night of doubt. Faith has been reborn. In the morning of the nineteenth cen- tury, a boy with the soul of a prophet and the eyes of a seer sought God in sincere prayer for wisdom, to guide him in the search for truth. As he prayed, a pillar of light appeared above his head. Within the light stood two heavenly Beings. The one pointed to the other and said, "Joseph, this is my beloved Son, hear him." Then the boy listened to the voice that had stilled the storm, and stayed the wave. That day a boy talked with God. That day faith was reborn. Blessed, thrice blessed, are those whose hearts have been kindled by this holy flame. Theirs is the strength of the Gods! Toronto, Canada.