(Slide 9) The first conviction is ‘there are things that are better than money.’ He names ‘good health, a cultivated intelligence, a clear conscience, and a sympathetic heart.’ He goes on to say, ‘There are some things that we can do without, and one of these is wealth. But there are some things we cannot do without, such as a clean conscience and a useful life, and if we choose between the money and these, we forgo the money.’
(Slide 9a) The second conviction is ‘Money is not an end in itself, but only to a means to an end.’ He notes, ‘Ought it not to put new energy into our fingers and help us to sing as we toil, when we reflect that we are earning money to assist the cause for which the Savior died?’
(Slide 9b) The third and final principle that Stalker would have us fix in our hearts is ‘it cannot be kept forever.’ He concludes his remarks about greed by contrasting the legacy of a good life with one that was motivated by avarice or greed and his final sentence gives us perspective that we need to seriously reflect upon this morning. ‘The influence, on the other hand, of a benevolent and useful life goes on after death and reproduces itself in those whom it awakens to aspiration and imitation.’