Elder David B. Haight and the Mysterious Polish Marxist

We skip over a couple of talks now - one by then-President Joseph Fielding Smith and another by Elder Howard W. Hunter, who talked about the new libraries for our churches (I approve of libraries).

And we go on to Elder David B. Haight and his talk called "Teach One Another".

He starts out, not with a quote, but with a small story:

 

The "Quote"

"At a seminar held in Warsaw, Poland, attended by students and leaders of the Communist party, a student posed this question: 

“Please don’t be angry, sir, but could you explain the ‘meaning of life?’” 

Poland’s leading Marxist philosopher reported that as he glanced at the hundreds of pairs of eyes silently staring at the party leadership, he recognized the seriousness of this question and a weakness in their philosophy that has neglected to deal with this challenging problem."

 

The Source 

Elder Haight went on to talk about how we already know the meaning of life - that's part of our church's doctrine. But who was this Polish Marxist he spoke of? There was no mention of who it could be. So it has remained a mystery for all this time, over 50 years, until now.

Enter ChatGPT, who did an obliging search for me and came up with a solid possibility.

I believe this story came from Adam Schaff, a Jewish-Polish Marxist philosopher (who I am unfortunately not related to - I have a great lack of Jewish in my family line, dang it! However. Elder Haight is my seventh cousin twice removed, so that's something.)

An article by Zbignew Wolak talks about that same story, although completely in Polish. Thanks to Google Translate, I was able to figure out at least a rudimentary translation.

Filozof marksistowski Adam Schaff opowiadał, jak podczas pewnego wykładu zaskoczyło go pytanie o sens życia i jakz trudem próbował na nie odpowiadać. 

If you don't happen to speak Polish, here's the basic idea:

"The Marxist philosopher Adam Schaff said, how during a lecture he was surprised by the question about the meaning of life and how He struggled to answer them."

And that was the only mention of that. So the story does in fact exist.

 

Where we come from - why we're here - where are we going?

The Meaning of Life

It's not uncommon for anyone from parents to Polish philosophy professors to struggle with the meaning of life - where we come from, why we're here, and where we're going. As simple as it sounds, it's not simple.

Sometimes it might be easier not to think about it, but that doesn't make the questions go away. When we come to the door of death, which we all will, it really forces the issue if we've never faced it before.

At least for me, I'm glad this knowledge isn't hidden in foreign philosophy papers I need ChatGPT to go find for me. There's no struggle for me in this area. I'm a child of a Heavenly Father, who created this earth for me to come to and have a mortal experience. When I'm done, I go back home to Him.

Of course there's more to it than that, and I know lots of other people struggle with this, and that's okay. Everyone's path in this life is different. 

I'll tell you though, It gives me a lot of peace in knowing. And it frees me up to focus on other fun things like this blog. 

 

Early Teaching Methods

The talk also references an early film made by the Church on how to teach gospel lessons. In our faith, we all learn how to teach since we don't have paid ministers, and I've never seen this film before, so here it is, for anyone who might be curious. Dang, but this is old!

Harold B. Lee and Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. - I've never seen them speak before. And Gordon Jump playing the bishop (he was in the old show WKRP in Cincinnati)! And the amusement park - Lagoon, my old stomping grounds as a kid!

At least the bishop didn't teach with a flannel board, am I right? My own Church teaching experiences had...well, more drama than what was shown in this drama. In the kids' classes especially. But they did the best they could back then.

 

 

 

Mark E. Peterson, Part Four - Daniel Webster Fighting the Devil

For Part One, Part Two, or Part Three, choose your link and click it.  

This is the last quote from this talk by Elder Mark E. Peterson, "Warnings From the Past".

The Quote

 

"One of the most stern of all warnings came from the great statesman Daniel Webster when he said: 

“If we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, 

violate the rules of eternal justice, 

trifle with the injunctions of morality 

and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, 

no one can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, 

that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.” 

 

This quote wasn't in this format in the talk - sometimes with older language, I like to breathe a little air into quotes when I can, to make them a little more readable and impactful online. So the many lines in these quotes are mine. You're welcome.

 

If you've never heard of Daniel Webster, you're in for a treat. A scary one. I almost wish this quote could have come closer to Halloween, because Daniel Webster was epic like that. Seldom have I seen such an intimidating mug as his, and few people were ever as powerful as he was.

He was a lawyer who argued cases before the Supreme Court. He was a senator. He was represented in a short story by Stephen Benet where he argued for a man's soul against the devil himself, and was portrayed in several movies - a real larger than life character. Ralph Waldo Emerson, after his death, called him "the completest man" and 'a masterpiece".

This quote happens to come from a speech he gave at the New York Historical Society on February 23, 1852, titled “The Dignity and Importance of History; A Prophetic Warning.” 

It's a very very....very very very...very very very long speech, but go ahead and give it a try if you have the inclination and a long afternoon to kill.

I'm saving that one for later myself. But I'll get to it eventually. Since he's the husband of my fifth cousin three times removed, he'll be at the heavenly Thanksgiving table someday, giving me that stare over the rolls and gravy...

(shudder) 

 

 

 

Mark E. Peterson, Part Three - George Washington, A Rock Upon the Rock

 For Part One, Part Two, or Part Four, make your choice and go for it! 

If Lincoln wasn't lofty enough, Elder Mark E. Peterson then pulls out our most illustrious founding father, George Washington, and repeats the warning he once gave:

The Quote

"It was George Washington, our first president, who said: 

“… we ought to be no less persuaded 

that the propitious smiles of Heaven 

can never be expected on a nation 

that disregards the eternal rules of order and right 

which Heaven itself has ordained. …” 

(First inaugural address, April 30, 1789.)

 

George Washington had lovely penmanship. Here's a copy of the speech where this quote comes from.

The actual quote is found in the third paragraph down where he gives assurances that he will govern for all people and not just for one political side or another, or for only special interests:

 

"...that the foundation of our national policy 

will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, 

and the preeminence of free government 

be exemplified by all the attributes 

which can win the affections of its citizens 

and command the respect of the world."

 

It's been awhile since I've heard a sentiment like this one in a political speech. Or this:

 

"...there exists in the economy and course of nature 

an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; 

between duty and advantage; 

between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy 

and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; 

since we ought to be no less persuaded 

that the propitious smiles of Heaven 

can never be expected 

on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right 

which Heaven itself has ordained; 

and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty 

and the destiny of the republican model of government 

are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, 

staked on the experiment 

entrusted to the hands of the American people."

 

I can feel in the language he uses the weight of the concerns he carries, the sense of history and gravitas, and the challenges he's had to go through to get to this point. A good and decent, solid man who had faith in God to help them do something that no one was sure would work. Happy to have him as my sixth cousin seven times removed.

He certainly left his mark on society. Even in productions such as the musical, "Hamilton", there is a feeling of that weight that he carried.