National Religious Broadcasters Remarks at the Association's Annual Convention.

Thank you very much, Dr. Hofer, Dr. Armstrong, Larnelle Harris, members and friends of the National Religious Broadcasters, ladies and gentlemen:

I have been very excited ever since I accepted the invitation to come here to have a chance to meet all you famous people. [Laughter]

Not too long ago at the White House one of your members came to see me, and he said, "Mr. President, I have watched you several times lately as you've performed on television." And he said, "I think before you make your State of the Union message it would benefit you a lot to come to the National Religious Broadcasters meeting and get a few pointers." [Laughter] So, here I am.

As you may know, this is an election year and— [laughter] —it's going to be quite different from the last one in 1976, not particularly because I'm an incumbent, although that will make a difference, but I decided on the way over here that I'm going to turn over to you one of the tremendous responsibilities that I had in 1976. This year I'm going to let you spend your full time explaining what it means to be born again. [Laughter]

Almost exactly 3 years ago, I took the oath of office as President of the United States of America. It was a responsibility that I sought with all my ability, and I have tried with the same degree of commitment to carry out my duties as President. I've sought to mold the policies and the programs of our Nation to meet the needs of each transient moment, to prepare our Nation for the future, which we can only dimly see. And I have, as never before in my life, had to rely on God's help.

As President, I have been privileged to meet great people, famous people—men and women of great faith, men and women of no faith. I have had a chance to worship with fellow believers who share with me the deepest possible personal faith and the common traditions that bind all of us together. I have had a chance to talk about the Gideons' work and Bibles with the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping, and about the need for him to open up the gates of China once again for missionaries to bear the word.

I've shared my faith with leaders of Korea, Poland, and other nations that I've visited. And I've found a sense of brotherhood with a Moslem leader of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, and a Jewish leader of Israel, Menahem Begin, as we worked together trying to find the ideal of Christ: peace on Earth. I have had a chance for private and personal worship and prayer, with friends .and others, in the seclusion of my home at the White House and also at Camp David.

Rosalynn and I read the Bible together every night, not as some sort of mystical guidebook, as some might think, to give us quick and simple answers to every problem of a nation or personal life, but because we find new insights and new inspirations in this present job in passages that we have read and known and loved ever since childhood.

I'm glad that the Bible does not tell us just about mighty warriors or great prophets or wise leaders. It also tells us about sinful men and women, men like the Disciples—sometimes stubborn, reluctant, selfish, weak, struggling with their own fears and failures and lack of faith. Yet with God's help, they were able to do great things.

I am thankful that God has always done his work through imperfect human beings, seeing the strength, the need—what was an apparent weakness—and the potential beneath what seemed to be their human fallibilities and failures, and the courage that existed beneath their fear. Only when they realized their own personal limitations could God work fully in their lives.

The seventies, which have just concluded, has been called the decade of the "Me Generation," but there's evidence that even in the frantic effort for personal self-gratification, there is a longing for meaning and purpose; there's a hunger for things which do not change.

Not long ago I was in South Korea, and I went to church in what was formally an abandoned airport, where 1 million people had come to hear Billy Graham preach about Christ. And not long ago I was in Chicago, in a site where 1 1/2 million people came to worship with Pope John Paul II.

Sometimes, however, a search even for a religious faith and religious meaning can be distorted into terrible acts, as the recent experiences have shown us. The urge to believe is so strong that faith has great power, even when it's perverted into terrorism and tyranny. We see it sometimes in fanatical acts of cruelty and repression, in the name of religion, all around the world. The hungry, the homeless, the hostages are all testimonies of man's continued capacity for evil. Yet we see in this world the great urge of people, decent people, to ease suffering. We see nations and institutions within nations and individuals within institutions giving their time and their effort and their money, even their lives, to make a life more viable and a life more livable for an entire struggling population that might be starving or for a single homeless child.

Our Nation, the United States, has been especially blessed; yet, in our own abundance and freedom we are too quick to complain and to turn aside from our principles and ideals when the pressures of everyday life bear heavy on us. We often are like the children of Israel who were delivered from Egypt and provided manna every day by God, but who complained about the discipline and who coveted the fish and the melons that they had left behind in Egypt, while forgetting the slavery. Like the children of Israel, we cannot always know where the road will lead. God does give us guidance, but he does not provide roadmaps with a sure and certain destination.

Our Nation now is faced with serious challenges and choices which may require sacrifice, even from those assembled here in this great hall. But it's important that we keep our perspective and realize what is truly valuable. It is not a sacrifice to give up waste. It's not a sacrifice to submit to God's will. It's not a sacrifice to care for others or to struggle for peace or to tell the truth. We need not look at the problems of today as a reason for fear. This Nation was built by men and women who dared to strike out on new paths, to face any challenge, and who saw change in their lives—which might have been frightful-as an opportunity. They held onto enduring values as they opened up new worlds for them and later on for us. There's no way that we can recapture now their world 200 years later, but we can recapture their spirit of unity and of mutual concern, and we can also share their faith.

A television station or the Oval Office is a powerful pulpit. Our influence as individuals can be greatly magnified. And as we realize the tremendous audiences that we have, humility does not come naturally.

The one measure of greatness is how we best exemplify the high principles of those whom we served and whom we serve now. You and I serve Christ. I also serve America. And I have never found in my own life any incompatibility between these two responsibilities for service. My biggest concern, I know as yours is, is that I might never betray those whom I have been called upon to serve.

The next month and years will not be easy, but I know that God never promised us freedom would be easy, only that it was worth the cost. God does not promise to make us perfect here on Earth, just to forgive our sins. God never promised a life without a cross, just the strength to bear our burdens.

Our Nation, in these troubled and fastchanging technological times, is hungry for the truth. You here tonight as religious broadcasters have a great responsibility. Millions of people listen to your voices and watch your programs. You have an awesome power to shape public opinion, to teach, to educate, and to implant ideas in many human minds. Even more than those in commercial broadcasting, you must take the time, pay the price to give, while you are on the air, a true message.

Since I've been in Washington, I've come to learn much more clearly what Paul meant when he said that we should pray without ceasing. I do pray a lot every day, as I move from one event to another, as I wait for a new foreign leader or a national leader to come in my office, as I decide issues that might affect the life of one person or a small community or, perhaps, sometimes even the. entire world. And I do not always make the right decision, because I do not always follow God's will. But someone has said that truth often rides on the back of error. We are learning together. How can we serve better? How can our lives be more meaningful? How can we and the people that listen to our voice be challenged and inspired to reach for greatness?

I'm strengthened by the prayers of others, of those I love, and of people throughout this Nation whom I will never meet. Even when people do not agree with me on a particular stand I take and might be severely critical, they still keep praying for me because I'm President. I need those prayers, and I need help to build a nation and, perhaps, a world of freedom and justice and opportunity, of law and community, where our knowledge and power and wealth in this Nation can be used to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to strengthen families, and to husband and save the vast resources that God has given us in our beautiful and bountiful land.

As President, I often think about the story of Moses at Rephaim, which you know very well. The children of Israel were murmuring against Moses, and as soon as he would solve one problem, another one would arise. Then, as you know, Amalek attacked. And while Joshua led Israel's soldiers, Moses stood on a high hill. And under God's direction, as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites prevailed, and when he let his hands down, Amalek prevailed against them. They fought on all through the day, and Moses' arms grew weary. And then late in the afternoon, Aaron and Hur got stones. And they came, and one stood on each side, and they held up his arms, and Moses' hands were steady until sundown, and the Israelites prevailed.

No matter how strong his will, no matter how strong his desire, a President cannot carry out his responsibilities alone. But I have found that when my own arms grow weary, there are those on each side, on many sides, to hold up my hands. And I always thank God for the responsibilities that I have, and I always thank God for the help that I receive.

Thank you very much.