Grateful Greetings

On this 4th of July, 1971 we give thanks to God, and to the men and women who have provided us with the blessed freedoms of this land.

We have chosen the words of Dallas Smith "Work with all your skill and will, for you are now becoming what you are going to be" to emphasize the great blessings that can come from our right to choose our work within the limits of our God-given talents. We all know that Michelangelo could not have been a Beethoven, nor Lincoln an Edison; however, each individual in his uniqueness has the ability to work and grow. The drawing on the front symbolizes the diversity of choices presented to us.

The right to choose our work determines whether we can work with all our skill and will. Only if we can perform work commensurate with our God-given talents is it possible to work with all our skill and will. The will to work is controlled by what motivates us, so we cannot work with all our will unless we are doing what we are programmed best to do. Thus the blessings of freedom are essential to our capacity to "work with all our skill and will."

No nation in the world today, nor in the past, has provided more people with the opportunity to choose their work than the United States. We should understand that opportunity is all that a nation can provide. Whether the individual will grasp the opportunity and grow to his highest potential will be determined by his will to work. Any individual or organization that promotes mediocrity by teaching or making it possible for an individual to do less than his best destroys that person's will to work and can in no way be considered a friend.