_We Must Learn to Support Ourselves_--I am under obligation to take a course which will sustain life within myself and others, on rational principles, without any special manifestation from God. 14:111. I have tried continually to get this people to pursue a course that will make them self-sustaining, taking care of their poor, the lame, the halt and the blind, lifting the ignorant from where they have no opportunity of observing the ways of the world, and of understanding the common knowledge possessed among the children of men, bringing them together from the four quarters of the world, and making {26} of them an intelligent, thrifty and self-sustaining people. 12:195. My warfare is, and has been for years, to get the people to understand that if they do not take care of themselves they will not be taken care of; that if we do not lay the foundation to feed and clothe and shelter ourselves we shall perish with hunger and with cold; we might also suffer in the summer season from the direct rays of the sun upon our naked and unprotected bodies. 10:200. I see more and more that there are but very few men and women that are even capable of taking care of themselves temporally. 4:314. {27} CHAPTER II _THE GODHEAD_ _Our Father in Heaven_--Let every person be the friend of God. 4:372. Some believe or conceive the idea that to know God would lessen him in our estimation; but I can say that for me to understand any principle or being, on earth or in heaven, it does not lessen its true value to me, but on the contrary, it increases it; and the more I can know of God, the dearer and more precious he is to me, and the more exalted are my feelings towards him. 13:57. There is a Power that has organized all things from the crude matter that floats in the immensity of space. He has given form, motion and life to this material world; has made the great and small lights that bespangle the firmament above; has allotted to them their times and their seasons, and has marked out their spheres. He has caused the air and the waters to teem with life, and covered the hills and plains with creeping things, and has made man to be a ruler over his creations. All these wonders are the works of the Almighty Ruler of the universe, in whom we believe and whom we worship. 11:120. All the creations are his work, and they are for his glory and for the benefit of the children of men; and all things are put into the possession of man for his comfort, improvement and consolation, and for his health, wealth, beauty and excellency. 13:151. He is a God of system, order, law, science, and art; a God of knowledge and of power. 13:309. He is the Father, God, Savior, Maker, Preserver, and {28} Redeemer of man. He holds in his hands the issue of all things and will judge every man according to his works. 3:259-260.