An Aspect of Practical Religion
(by Earl C. Crockett)

As we rub elbows on the street, in the home, in the school, or in the market place, we can never tell when a chance remark or action of ours will leave a lasting influence for good or ill on someone else.

President Compton of the Mass. Int. of Tech. Once expressed this idea very forcefully.

"Whatever may be the facts of theories of the eternal life, one thing is certain: Each man's achievement and influence leave a permanent mark that will last as long as the human race endures - - a mark impressed on the physical, intellectual, and spiritual qualities of all succeeding generations."

President Compton used a physical example in Astronomy to illustrate this aspect of immortality. "Some combination of circumstances - perhaps a collision between two stars, or a sudden outburst of internal energy, suddenly raises a distant star to bright luminosity, lifting its atoms into excited states from which they gradually subside to their normal condition. We might say that atoms came to life for a brief period, and then died. But an astronomer on this earth millions of years later, notices the sudden burst in the star and reports the discovery of a nova. He studies its light with a spectroscope and finds there the complete record of the activities of these distant atoms as they lived and worked and died millions of years ago. And if there should be another astronomer on some still more distant planet, he will read the same record perhaps another million years hence. These atoms lived their span of activity and then settled down to the inertness that is like death, but their energy is not lost, and the record of their lives passes on and on thur space forever. So with your lives and mine; our accomplishments and our influence, as they are created during the days which still lie ahead of us, will build up those complex but definite patterns which, for better of for worse, will filter down through all future generations as Karl Compton or John Smith - probably forgotten by name and merged with a myriad other influences but, like a spectral energy, still living."

If such be true, what must be our obligation as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, living away from the body of the church - - among non-members - - people who either know nothing about the principles of our religion or else have a distorted view of mormonism.

Clearly we have an important obligation to perform - - an obligation to ourselves because of the lasting effects of our words and actions the kind of thing Pres. Compton spoke of. But in addition, we have an obligation to our church. We mustn't forget that an organization is judged by its membership and by the kind of lives they live. The quotation - "By their fruits ye shall know them" is certainly true.

With this thought in mind I should like to ______? ___? rules of conduct which may help us to be an influence for good and the right kind of representatives of the Mormon church in this part of God's vineyard.

First, live a clean, honorable life, carrying out the precepts of the gospel as we know them. Be a good citizen, honest, considerate companion and possess generally an excellent character. These things I shall not dwell upon. They are tremendously important, but I wish to turn to the second rule of conduct - - Prize the friendship of others.

The writer of the book - "How to Win Friends and Influence People" I understand, maintains that friendship is prerequisite to the other things we wish to accomplish. Is it not true that the best way to make people respect us is to first win their friendship and confidence? I think so.

Our second rule, then, is to prize friendship. May we cultivate the art of making friends? Edgar A. Guest, the poet, thinks so. He says - - "The man who has many friends has been a friend to many. He has understood the needs of many. He has know, without being told, that other people like to have attention shown to them, and he has slighted no man needlessly. He has walked the earth with all men as one of them. He has a understood the need of all for laughter. The fellowship of joy and grief has been an open book to him. The chances are he has suffered sorrow, and he knows how deeply it cuts, and he remembers when another is in trouble" .

Edgar A. Guest, The art of making Friends, Ame. M. Nov. 1928

Negatively, Dr. Frank Crane has told us how to excert the right kind of influence upon others thru friendship by telling us what not to do. He published an article about 15 years ago entitled "Ten things that Keep Us Apart." I should like to enumerate his ten points:

1. Egotism. The prime and blue-ribboned among separators is egotism. It may take the form of self-boasting and self-complacency, but a more common form of egotism is self-depreciation. Egotism has many disguises. It loves masks. One of the most detestable roles is that of self-pity. You may be sorry for your self and have good cause; but rest assured that when you reveal this to another person you have given a blow to his affection. Egoism may take the forms of sensitiveness or jealousy. The point is, everything that happens is conceived by one in terms of oneself.

2. Disagreeableness: The first thing that ought to be taught in Sunday school to little children is to be agreeable. If love is the greatest thing in the world then agreeableness comes next, for it is the road to love. He ____? who never greeted his fellows.

3. Gloom. Gloom is a strong pusher-away. Perhaps you cannot help being gloomy you have good reason to be gloomy. Everyone expects you to be gloomy. Granted this gloom pushes people away from you just the same. Misery may love company but it does not get it if you have gloom and cannot get rid of it, at least you might conceal it as a vice, and this you must do if you value the affection of others.

4. A sureway to push others from you is to show that your feelings are hurt. Weakness constituted that we could not live with an angel from Heaven without his offending us sometimes? _____??

5. Nagging- Nagging does not need to be defined for every one knows what it is and all of us are guilty of it more or less. It is quite important that people should know their faults and correct them that they should mend their bad manners, that they should be uplifted and polished generally.

But when you go into the uplift and polishing business, remember that it has its price and you have to pay it. Only one man in a hundred and one woman in a thousand likes to be criticized regulated. What people like is to be approved and appreciated. Criticism pushes and appreciates pulls - Appreciating should be a constant habit.

6. Deception. Friendship is different unless it is based upon condor truthfulness and sincerity. No body can do business with a liar or at least until he knows what kind of a liar he is. The trouble with lying is that no one is clever enough to keep it up successfully. The beauty of telling the truth is that we don't have to think about it. When we tell one lie we have to tell 240 more lies to make it fit and the game becomes too complicated. Deception is one of the commonest? of separators.

7. Artificiality. This is a form of deception. The first thing is to be ourselves. If I am loved for myself, then there is some hope of loving continuance for at least I shall always be myself.

8. Discourtesy. Politeness is an automatic pleaser. It is one of the rules of the game of life and there is no game that cannot be played without rules. Courtesy is a lubric?

9. Over-intimacy; one of the traits of the soul is that it resents being crowded. Each life must have its integrity protected. You can maintain the relation of master and slave, but you cannot maintain friendship unless there is mutual respect.

10. Domination. This is a severe destroyer of friendship. It is one of the lowest traits of humanity just as the desire to serve is the highest trait. It is well to recognize this trait when we see it erapping? up in ourselves. It is what has made the dictatorship of Europe.

May we make our religion practical by keeping its rules? principles in our daily lives, setting good examples for others to following and winning support for the cause of truth by acquiring friends who respect us.

[[ This item still needs to be edited some more. There were a few words I couldn't read clearly, so I'll need to go back to the original document (which is at BYU). ]]