I will tell you when you and I may consider ourselves truly rich - when we can speak to the earth - to the native elements in boundless space, and say to them Be ye organized, and planted here, or there, and stay until I command you hence;
When I have gold and silver in my possession, which a thief may steal, or friends borrow, And never pay me back again, or which may take the wings of the morning, and I behold it no more, I only possess the negative of true riches.
[Riches] They are like a thing of naught to those who understand the things of the kingdom of God. They are to be used, but not abused. They are to be handled with discretion, and looked upon in their true light, without any lustful desires, as the means to feed, clothe, and make us comfortable, that we may be prepared to secure to ourselves eternal riches.
The only true riches in existence are for you and I to secure for ourselves a holy resurrection; then we have command of the gold end the silver, and can place it where we please, and in whose hands we please.
Remember, that true riches – life, happiness, and salvation, is to secure for ourselves a part in the first resurrection, where we are out of the reach of death and him that hath the power of it; then we are exalted to thrones, and have power to organize element. Yes, they that are faithful, and that overcome, shall be crowned with crowns of eternal glory. They shall see the time when their cities shall be paved with gold; for there is no end to the precious metals, they are in the native element, and there is an eternity of it. If you want a world of the most precious substance, you will have nothing to do but say the word and it is done.
Why do the children of men set their hearts on earthly things? They are to be used, but not to the abusing of yourselves. They are to be used to make us comfortable. Suppose all the good things of this world should be given to us, the gold and the silver, the cattle and the horses, and all the flocks of thousand Hills; it would be for the express purpose of building mansions and temples, of feeding the poor that cannot be themselves, of succoring the tried and the tempted, of sending Elders to preach the gospel from nation to nation, from island to island, and of gathering Israel from the four corners of the globe. But that moment that men seek to build up themselves, in preference to the kingdom of God, and seek to hoard up riches, while the widow and the fatherless, the sick and afflicted around them are in poverty and want, it proves that their hearts are weaned from their God; and their riches will perish in their fingers, and they with them.
I will tell you when you and I may consider ourselves truly rich—When we can speak to the earth—to the native elements in boundless space, and say to them—“Be ye organized, and planted here, or there, and stay until I command you hence;” when at our command the gold is hid so that no man can find it, any more than they could in California until within a few years back.
When I have gold and silver in my possession, which a thief may steal, or friends borrow, and never pay me back again, or which may take the wings of the morning, and I behold it no more, I only possess the negative of the true riches.