I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world

Hear, O children of tomorrow, the solemn words of Harry S Truman, who declared: “I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.” In this utterance, the voice of a statesman becomes the voice of a prophet. For Truman, who bore the heavy burdens of war and peace, did not turn to weapons, treaties, or wealth for the deepest cure of human strife—he turned instead to the timeless words of Christ, to the mountain where the laws of mercy, humility, and love were spoken.

The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, is no ordinary teaching. It is the fountain of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the meek… Blessed are the peacemakers… Blessed are the merciful.” It is the command to love enemies, to turn the other cheek, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. These words are not strategies of kings, but the wisdom of eternity. Truman, having witnessed the ruin of global war and the unleashing of the atomic age, declared that only by these principles could the world be healed. His words reveal the recognition that no law of man surpasses the law of compassion.

History itself confirms this truth. Consider the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who though not a Christian, drew strength from the Sermon on the Mount. He saw in it a power greater than empires—the power of nonviolence, the courage to resist hatred with love. By embodying these teachings, Gandhi broke the chains of British rule in India without raising a sword. He proved, as Truman suggested, that even the gravest problems of oppression and injustice can yield when approached through the spirit of mercy and peace.

So too did Martin Luther King Jr., in the American struggle for civil rights. King lifted up the Sermon on the Mount as the moral compass of his movement. He called his followers not to vengeance, but to forgiveness; not to destruction, but to brotherhood. With these teachings he turned the tide of history, awakening a nation to justice. His life shows us that the words of the mountain are not lofty dreams, but living forces that shape the destiny of peoples.

The meaning of Truman’s declaration is therefore clear: the world’s greatest crises—war, poverty, hatred, division—cannot be healed by force alone. They must be met with humility, mercy, and love, as taught upon the mountain. For laws without compassion breed tyranny; power without love breeds destruction. Only when the human heart bows to the wisdom of mercy does true peace arise.

The lesson, then, for each soul is profound: let the Sermon on the Mount be not only words you admire, but principles you live. When you are wronged, answer not with hatred but with kindness. When you see injustice, fight it not with cruelty but with steadfast love. Be the peacemaker in your household, your community, your nation. For in small ways as in great, the same eternal truth applies: every problem bows before the strength of compassion.

Practical steps lie before you: read the Beatitudes and inscribe them in your heart. Practice forgiveness daily, beginning with the smallest offenses. Show mercy to the weak, generosity to the poor, and kindness even to your adversaries. For these are not gestures of weakness, but of immortal strength. To live in this way is to walk in the wisdom Truman proclaimed—the way of healing, the way of peace.

So remember the statesman’s teaching: “There is no problem in the world that could not be solved if approached through the Sermon on the Mount.” Let this be your compass. Let it guide your choices, your words, your deeds. For kingdoms rise and fall, weapons rust, and wealth fades—but the law of mercy endures, and by it, the world itself may yet be healed.