President Gordon B. Hinckley said Sunday morning that he is optimistic about what is happening in the world despite the wars and problems plaguing people today.
He shared a conversation he had with a distinguished Protestant minister in which President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, said "the remarkable thing is that so many people care. More than at any time in the history of the world, I believe, there are men and women by the tens of thousands who are reaching out with their strength and their substance to help those in distress."This optimism also is reflected in the growth of the Church in the last eight years. President Hinckley noted during that time the Church had grown by 2 million members, about 500 stakes and nearly 4,000 wards and branches. Thirty-four new missions were created, and the "number of political entities, nations and territories in which we are working" increased from 83 to 125. The number of temples more than doubled from 19 to 41.
"These are only statistics, but behind all of them are men and women, boys and girls," President Hinckley declared. "We are speaking of sons and daughters of God into whose lives has come greater knowledge and into whose hearts has come increased faith in the things of eternity."
President Hinckley said the Church is moving forward because it is true. "It is growing because there is a broadening love for that truth. It is growing because of a love for God and love for the Savior, a love for neighbor and a strengthening spirit of love in the homes of the people. It is this love which is the great constant in all of our work."
He compared this love - "that constant, never-failing quality that has the power to lift us above the evil, the conflict and trouble of the world" - to the North Star. As a boy living on a farm during the summer, he and his brother would look at the myriads of stars in the heavens. As the earth turned, the stars appeared to move through the night. "But," he said, "the North Star held its position in line with the axis of the earth.
"Through the centuries of time mariners had used it the North Star, or also known as the Polestar or the LodestarT to guide them in their journeys," he said. "They had reckoned their bearings by its constancy, thereby avoiding traveling in circles or in the wrong direction, as they moved across the wide, unmarked seas."
As a boy, President Hinckley recognized the Lodestar as a constant in the midst of change that could always be counted on as an anchor in what otherwise appeared to be a moving and unstable sky.
"Love is like the Polar Star," he added. "In a changing world it is a constant. It is of the very essence of the gospel. It is the security of the home. It is the safeguard of community life. It is a beacon of hope in a world of distress."
God showed His love for His children by giving the plan of salvation and sending His Firstborn into the world. The Savior then gave Himself as a sacrifice for all people.
"He JesusT is our great exemplar," he said. "Let love become the lodestar of our lives with the absolute assurance that, because of the love of God our Eternal Father and His own beloved Son, our salvation from the bonds of death is sure and our opportunity for eternal exaltation is certain. Let that divine love, shed on us, be reflected from our lives onto others of our Father's children."
President Hinckley urged members to be generous with their substance to assist those in hunger, poverty, disease and misery. He noted the two days of special fasts that raised $10.5 million in 1985 helped bridge the gap between life and death for uncounted starving and many underprivileged people. The Church continues to have a program, a Hunger Fund, to which people can contribute, he said.
"Let love be the Polar Star of our lives in reaching out to those who need our strength," President Hinckley continued. "There are among us many who lie alone in pain. Medicine helps, but kind words can bring to pass miracles. Many there are who walk in frightening circumstances, fearful and unable to cope."
Following the Polar Star of love is not always easy, President Hinckley said, but out of observance comes a remarkable discipline and a refining influence. He suggested those in troubled homes let love become their lodestar of family life. He warned against parents speaking harsh words to their children.
"Love is the very essence of family life," he said. " `There is beauty all around,' only `when there's love at home.' "