Accept revelations
Be anxiously engaged- Endure well
Genuine hope in Christ is urgently needed in a world of profound and increasing despair, said Elder Neal A. Maxwell in the Saturday afternoon session.
Elder Maxwell of the Council of the Twelve said a pervading "grumpy cynicism" is affecting the politics of the world. "Holocausts, famine, pestilence and tides of refugees have taken a terrible toll on human hope, with much of that toll coming from man-made, avoidable disasters," he said.
"Genuine hope is urgently needed in order to be more loving, even as the love of many waxes cold; more merciful, even when misunderstood or misrepresented; more holy, even as the world ripens in iniquity; more courteous and patient in a coarsening and curt world; and more full of heartfelt hope, even when other men's hearts fail them."
He said that the loss of hope "sends selfishness surging, as many turn, even more intensively, to pleasing themselves. The diminished sense of sin diminishes shame, that hot, sharp spur needed for repentance. Shame is often replaced by arrogance.
"As societies trivialize traditional values, we witness a flow of immense suffering. We anguish, for instance, over what happens to the unborn who cannot vote, to children at risk and we weep over children having children and children shooting children."
Acceptance of the revelations of God can bring "both direction and correction and in turn, bring a brightness of hope," (2 Ne. 31:20) that comes "through the atonement of Christ." (Moro. 7:40.)
"From this triumphal act, resulting in the eventual resurrection of all mankind, so many lesser hopes derive their significance," continued Elder Maxwell.
He said hope is part of a triad of faith, hope and charity, each of which "qualifies us for the celestial kingdom. Each, first of all, requires us to be meek and lowly.
"Just as doubt, despair and desensitization go together, so do faith, hope and charity. The latter must be carefully and constantly nurtured, whereas despair, like dandilions, needs so little encouragement to sprout and spread. Despair comes so naturally to the natural man."
He said that those who look forward to a better world are usually "anxiously engaged" in improving this world. "Thus real hope is much more than wishful musing. Hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination - a determination to not merely survive, but to `endure well' to the end."
"Daily hope, Elder Maxwell said, is vital, since the `Winter Quarters' of our lives are not immediately adjacent to our promised land, either.
"Hope beckons all of us to come Home where a glow reflects the Light of the World whose brightness and glory defy all description.' Jesus waits with open arms to receivethose who finally overcome by faith and hope.'
