The Religion of Life

The Religion of Life By Merlo J. Pusey (^1 INCE the earliest dawn of human thought, men of all races ^j) have concerned their minds with the purpose and the objectives of life. There has never been a time since history began that the thinkers of all people have not striven to know what life is, whence man came and what is his destiny. No one human intellect has ever conceived the answer fully, yet man persists in speculating on the multitude of problems that arise from his relation to the Creator. Theologians continue to search the scriptures for the pur- pose of God in creating man, and philosophers continue to train their relentless eyes on the swarming mass of mankind to discover some hidden purpose of being. But with all the searching of the divine records and all the delving into metaphysics, the question re- mains unsolved for the majority of mankind. It frequently happens that when a truth has been pursued for ages and the quest has led men in all different directions of thought and investigation without satisfactory results, a nearer approach to the truth can be made by returning to the original thesis. Christian denominations by the score have found the object of mortal life to be preparation for a future state of happiness. The evils of the world must be endured and overcome that peace may be attained in the hereafter, they teach. Some of the Oriental religions go much farther than this and regard life itself as an evil. In such philosophy non-existence becomes the ideal toward which all strive, and blessed- ness comes only with complete oblivion. One school of modern thinkers in America has despaired of ever finding anything but chaos in the world, with the result that they see life as wholly purposeless, and mankind as a blind army sweeping over unknown fields to its own destruction. Perhaps a return to fundamentals in seeking to comprehend the purpose of life, under these conditions, would be enlightening. When we see a beautiful rose bush climbing up the walls of a garden, perfuming the air and charming the eye, we do not ask its purpose, nor assert that its being has a hidden meaning. The rose is sufficient in itself, and, moreover, it is content to bloom as one of God's loveliest creations; to put forth its most delicate beauty without reference to its future state. Who stops to consider the rose as the mere agent of some other, perhaps higher, form of life?

THE RELIGION OF LIFE 921 Or who conceives its sole purpose to be the creation of seeds that other roses may bloom? Superficial thinking always tends to confuse a process or an object with its by-products. Why do we need to think that man has a purpose foreign to his own mortal nature? Can we not find a partial answer to the questionings of ages in the elemental thought that the purpose of life is living; that man exists for himself and is his own excuse for being? To come to any other conclusion is to make man — who is an eternal entity, as even God himself — sub- servient to some cause, or a slave to some superior being. Man is not a mere tool to bring about the glory of anyone, not even the Deity whom he worships. He has an individual destiny which God not only recognizes, but promotes, giving wise counsel and showing the way to the fuller life, but leaving man to the freedom of his will. Life itself is the object of humanity and not merely the means to an end. The purpose of man is to live. Life is an eternal stream, beginning in the distant past and going on and on into the infinite future. The spirit of man is co- existent with God. Do not the scriptures tell us that in the be- ginning God found himself in the midst of intelligent entities, and, being the most intelligent, became their leader? How then can there be anything in this life, or anything in our conception of heaven or hell, that transcends the importance of living!' Man was created that he might be, and he reaches the fullest measure of his being when he lives most abundantly. There is a philosophy, springing perhaps from the apparent futility of a single individual's efforts in the world, that man's primary function is to grow to maturity and reproduce his kind, that the continuity of the race may be maintained. Humanity must be perpetuated, but if life were nothing more than reproduction there are many honest souls who would find it difficult indeed to think of living as worth-while at all. If there is no purpose in living, why should people go on bringing other individuals into purposeless being? What would be the use of human striving? The answer must be that man comes into the world for the sake of his own life. his own development, and that the service he renders others, such as the discovery of unknown truth, or the begetting of children, is a by-product of his own growth. Only when man comes to realize that his own achievements, his personal career, his individual expe- rience and salvation transcend, for him, all else in the world, will he be able to visualize the purpose of his own being. Only then will he be able to enter upon his greatest service to humanity, which is the contribution of an enlightened and noble character. For life can

922 IMPROVEMENT ERA scarcely be said to have a purpose, unless it be the advancement in knowledge and happiness, the exaltation, of those who live. Other people recognize life as its own objective, but fail to com- prehend the importance of the here and now of existence. It is a uni- versal illusion that the past was happy and blessed. But perhaps this mellowing of the memory by time is no more widespread than the illusory conception of the future as a period of unconditional hap- piness and attainment. Nothing is more true than out of the past the present is fashioned, and that out of the present the future will evolve. The past is gone. Today we are as we are and no power in the world, demoniac or divine, can change the fact. Tomorrow we have not, because it is still beyond our grasp, and our failures of today may forever unfit us for the opportunities of days yet to be. Can we depend upon anything as a working basis but the here and now? Since the past is gone and the future is almost wholly depend- ent on the present, there seems to be no foundation to the belief that this life is nothing more than a probationary state to prepare human beings for a future of inactive bliss. To use the commonplace com- parison, all life may be considered a school wherein the lessons of achievement are learned or the habits of shirking are acquired. But should we regard this teaching process as an earthly punishment — an inferior state of being, subordinated to the future and designed only to try mankind with temptations of the flesh? As long as we entertain hopes of progress the business of learning must go on. The man who shrinks from the experiences of mortal life and dreams of a hereafter of peace in which there will be nothing to do but enjoy the rewards of past righteousness, is as deluded as the man who expects to find greater satisfaction in the idle dissipation of wealth than he found in active creation of it. Experience in the world brings understanding that growth comes out of adversity, and that knowledge is born of an earnest struggle with ignorance. In the light of the ideal of eternal pro- gression, how can we hope, or even wish, to escape from a state of being that is beset with problems and that requires of us honest toil and diligent thought? Learning is living. Because we have opportunity to learn so much in this life, to apply our knowledge and skill in so many thousands of constructive projects, this mortal stage of the eternal span of time should be rich in the joys of living and the rewards of achievement. Today is as much a part of life as any day that shall rise on our horizons, mortal or immortal. We live by the day that is within our grasp. Plans, resolutions, hopes even, that are not based on what we are today are as unavailing as

THE RELIGION OF LIFE 923 the fancies of an idle school boy who dreams himself a prince of world renown. Life becomes real only as it is lived, and can be considered worth-while only in proportion to its ultimate yield of satisfaction and achievement. If this be true then what may be considered the relation of religion to life? Attention has recently been forcefully directed to this problem by a thinker, who is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but who has paid the Church one of the greatest compliments that has ever come from an im- partial investigator. Dr. Max Haenle, chairman of the Department of Economics of the University of Erlangen, Germany, made the pronouncement after months of study here that "Mormonism" is, more than any other religious system that he has had occasion to study, a religion of life. The statement was made in a public address at the University of Utah and supported by a wealth of detail. The distinguished economist and sociologist found proof for his view in the L. D. S. missionary system, the Church plan of cooperative business, in the lack of professional priests, in the "Mormon" educational system and in the Word of Wisdom. After studying economic conditions in Utah for three months, as influenced by the L. D. S. Church, Dr. Haenle went to Samoa and Hawaii to note the effect of "Mormon" teachings on the natives of those islands. For the natives who live comparatively simple lives as well as for the more intellectual peoples of this western civilization, he found "Mormonism" to be the most "practical" religion. The very fact that Dr. Haenle is so enthusiastic about finding the Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints a "religion of life" indicates that the religions of the world in general have wandered away from the practical application of their teachings to daily living. The doctrines of Christ have become, for them, no longer rules of conduct, but a system of philosophy, and religion has evolved into speculation on past and future existence, more than training for life that lies immediately before us. What should religion be if not a plan of living the fuller life, and why should we concern ourselves with it in this world if it does not give us greater insight into the problems and opportunities that we meet with here? If it has no purpose but the exaltation of man in some future estate, why not leave the divine plan for pres- entation to him when he is able to comprehend and make use of it? The scriptures tell us that it was God's plan that the spirits of men should come to this earth and experience mortality. The Lord wished it and the unembodied spirits wished it because it is the way of life. The plan which is known as the Gospel was then perfected

924 IMPROVEMENT ERA for the specific purpose of directing man in this new experience. It was presented and carried into effect by Christ that man might live more fully in his new earthly environment, and out of that abundance of living, gain exaltation. It is obvious, then, that the Gospel was devised to serve our needs in mortality. What of the future? Again let us say that it is a product woven from the thought, the toil and the faithfulness of the present. Let the future bide its time. An intelligent view of the situation would anticipate greater light than we now have and more complete truth for the guidance of man in his post-mortal experience. Judged from this standpoint and according to the rating of Dr. Haenle, "Mormonism" has the foremost position among the re- ligious systems of the world in its actual value to mankind. Other religious bodies, as for example the Hindus or the Catholics, have more complete systems of philosophy and ceremony. But, as Dr. Haenle points out, a religion that is over-developed in its philosophy is in danger of not being understood by the masses, and one over- stocked with ceremony is on the way toward loss of simple truth and positive action. The German professor found that the "Mor- mons" have, in spite of their brief history and the many obstacles that have stood in their way, performed "an achievement of civili- zation and culture which is unsurpassed," and that " 'Mormon' morality has produced an economic type of man of the highest kind." The fruits of the Gospel are to be found, not in profound volumes of divine philosophy, but in the characters of men and women who have been touched by its influence and in lives that have been made joyous and noble. From the earliest history of the Church the temporal welfare of its people has been ingeniously connected with their spiritual de- velopment. Although definite and unequivocal in its teachings, the Church has never been a rigorous system into which every individual must be cramped for the glorification of the system. Instead, it has offered a plan divinely instituted for the purpose of helping man more fully to develop his personality. It has work for every member, cultivation for every talent. The strength of "Mormonism" lies in the fact that everyone who believes is called upon to manifest his faith in active service. The Church will never face the danger of falling into a spirit of world negation, Dr. Haenle believes, because its leaders are also men of temporal affairs, and its non-professional Priesthood will always maintain the necessary contact with daily life. Living in a world of material things, it is impossible, even if it were desirable, for man to withdraw his whole attention from them.

THE RELIGION OF LIFE 925 Js it not the experience of a material environment for which we came here? How narrow then must be the religion which recog- nizes only the spiritual side of life! What would we think of the efficiency of a system which would connect a dozen wires with our office and give us a telephone that could be contacted with but one of them? The aim of the Latter-day Saints is to make the Gospel vital in business, industry, leisure time, recreation, as well as in religious services and the giving of charity. The organization abounds in facilities to reach man in every function of life, to develop him physically, morally, intellectually and in spiritual things. Dr. Haenle found that "no other church knows such an ideal institution which is at the same time of as great practical value as the 'Mormon' mission." He likewise found the cooperative atti- tude of the "Mormons" to be a classical example of the inter-relation between religion and economics. The meaning of these findings, which have been here touched upon only in brief, was crystalized in a single sentence by the distinguished professor when he declared that he loves to be in Utah, and gave as his reason: "My 'Mormon' friends have a deeper conception of that entity which we call human life than the average American." Such words should be full of significance for the Latter-day Saint, and full of interest for all who claim to be seeking life in the fullest conception of the term. Life is supreme to all, and any sys- tem which tends to make it more intelligible, its achievements greater and its joys more complete and enduring, should arrest the attention and command the respect of every human being. Dr. Haenle is a student of life as well as of economics. Being an adherent of another Christian church far more powerful in membership than the Church of Jesus Christ, he has viewed the workings of "Mormon- ism" with impartial eyes, and found the real genius and greatness of this much-misunderstood Gospel. "It has always been the noblest aim and task of the truly cultured man." he concluded, "to find a real unity in the multi- plicity and diversity of life; and this endeavor, which goes like a silver thread through all the history of the 'Mormons,' has been to me, during my stay in Utah, not only a scientific inspiration, but it has also — and this is much more important — enriched my life be- yond measure from a purely human point of view."