Concluding the writings of Neal A. Maxwell on this subject, below is the last segment and follows the previous entry “Distress of Nations With Perplexity III.” To start at the beginning of these posts go to ‘The Distress of Nations With Perplexity.’— having started with first one there will be a link to take you to the next and so on. . .
Neal A. Maxwell in 1985, concludes this chapter from his book ‘Sermons Not Spoken:’
“But what of man’s dependence on God? Surely as Latter-Day Saints we must avoid the Jonah reflex. Moreover, knowing of and believing in the prophecies does not relieve us of the responsibility to do all we can to avoid the conditions which, unchecked, will bring them to pass.
Jesus also prophesied that in the last days, because of iniquity, the love of many would wax cold (Matthew 24:12). Yet we must not regard iniquity or human hardening and coarsening with a sense of inevitability.
“Wise as serpents, and harmless as doves”? (Matthew 10:16.) Without wisdom and with too few genuine doves, there will be a mounting “distress of nations, with perplexity.”
By the way, harmless denotes “without guile”—that is without duplicity, trickiness, deceitful cunning, and so on. To be innocent of such traits—even at the risk of appearing naive. (see Alma 18:22; Doctrine and Covenants 111:11.)
Significantly, “to be without sin”—or innocent—is what is being conveyed, not an endorsement of naiveté. It will be to and through those of integrity and innocence that the Lord’s help can best be given in seeking to solve one of the most complex of human problems, the global expression of which cannot be fully addressed without also addressing the individual and personal requirements of peace. James summed it up well:
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lust that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
Thus true peace is tied to human righteousness—irrevocably. Moreover, Church members are genuinely helping the cause of peace as we follow Jesus’ injunction to “seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness” (JST Matthew 6:38; italics added; see also KJV Matthew 6:33).
In a time of “distress of nations, with perplexity” Church members can help contribute significantly in other ways as well. For instance, an LDS scientist might help with the technology of deterrence, detection, or verification in a way which would advance the cause of negotiated peace. Others might assist in the relief of disease, famine or other destabilizing conditions.
But what comes “first” is clear: The gospel seed fully flourishes only in certain soil, the same soil in which true peace can grow. ~Neal A. Maxwell, Sermons Not Spoken (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985) 38-39
To start at the beginning and see all segments, click ‘The Distress of Nations With Perplexity’
