Elder Eldred G. Smith, Part One - Edna St. Vincent Millay and God's Peace

For Part Two or Part Three, choose the link and click. 

This week, we come to Elder Eldred G. Smith, and his April 1972 Conference talk entitled, Peace. This was the watchword of the day in the early 1970s - but what did it actually mean?

 His first quote comes from Edna St. Vincent Millay, the poet:

 

The Quote

“There is no peace on earth today, 

save the peace in the heart at home with God. … 

No man can be at peace with his neighbor 

who is not at peace with himself. …” 

(“Conversations at Midnight,” Collected Poems, Harper & Row, Copyright 1937 and 1964.) 

 

I did find this book, and along with it, the original quote, written from the point of view of a character named Anselmo:

 

"There is no peace on earth today, save the peace in the heart at home with God. 

From that sure habitation the heart looks forth on the sorrows of a savage world 

and pities them, and ministers to them, but is not implicated. 

All else has failed, 

as it must always fail.  

No man can be at peace with his neighbor who is not at peace with himself; 

the troubled mind is a trouble maker....

 

It's interesting, the separation of peace into levels, and how peace on earth is different than peace in God. That's also been true to my experience.