Welcome to the Classic Speaches Podcasts presented by BYU Speaches, bringing you treasured talks from 70 years of BYU Devotionals.

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This devotional address entitled, Bottles and Books, was given on May 1st of 1977 by

Sterling W. Sill, then a member of the first quorum of the 70 of the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints.

I appreciate my brothers and sisters very much this opportunity of being with you in this

wonderful surrounding at this great university. Somebody has said that the thing is usually

not only important for itself alone, it's also important and sometime a lot more important for what it's a sign of.

The fact that you're here in this university or that you're here tonight is a sign of something very important

that's going to happen in your life and in the world.

I'd like more than about anything I can think of tonight to say

something that might be of some benefit or help to you. I don't know that I can do that,

but I'd promise you that I would like to. But I thought I'd like to borrow a text tonight from

the prophet Amos, who talked quite a lot about famines,

and he mentioned two particular kinds. One of them was he mentioned a famine of bread and

a thirst for water. Now that's an experience that we've had throughout the world over the centuries

and caused a lot

of damage and problems. And when we're a little short of rainfall or some other things,

we have some apprehensions about just what's going to happen to us, and we're very interested

in that subject. And then we have another one that I suppose is a lot more important than

that is Amos talked about a famine for hearing the word of the Lord. Now we know something

about that, and that's a famine that can take place side by side with plenty, and we have

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