Tag: scriptures

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religion thoughts

The Only Possible Answer

In the Old Testament there is a fascinating story about two and a half tribes from the 12 tribes of Israel.  These two and a half tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh) were promised an inheritance by Moses that lay outside the promised land on the condition that their men would not reside there until the remaining tribes had taken possession of their inheritance lands in the promised land.

When Joshua took Moses’ place as the leader of Israel and was preparing to take the people across the Jordan River into the promised land he called the leaders of those tribes and reminded them of their promise to Moses. They responded by saying:

All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. (Joshua 1:12)

As I read that response I realized that if they truly believed that Joshua had authority from God to speak for God to them there was no other answer they could have given. Any other answer to be given would be an indication that they did not truly believe that Joshua had the authority to speak the word of God for them.

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Categories
thoughts

Figurative Phylacteries


photo credit: chaim zvi

I was recently reading in Deuteronomy chapter six where Moses instructs the people thus:

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

As I read that, the thought struck me that there are some laws and instructions that must be followed literally, such as the command that the people mark the upper and side posts of their door with the blood of their Passover lamb (Exodus 12) but that commands such as this, which are literally kept by wearing phylacteries and having a mezuzah on their door, are more important to be kept figuratively if the people are to become covenant people with the Lord than they are to be kept literally.

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National politics

The Old Testament Approach to Immigration


photo credit: melanzane1013

Lately I have been studying the Old Testament more closely than I ever have before and finding some hidden gems there. I am currently in Leviticus which I had remembered as nothing but heave offerings, wave offerings, burnt offerings, sin offerings, and instructions on where to burn “the fat that is above the caul.”

In Leviticus 19 I was surprised to find the answer to the one area of immigration policy over which my mind was not already completely settled – namely the issue of what approach we should take with regard to illegal immigrants who, aside from their immigration status, are decent members of society (which is almost certainly the majority of them). It is an issue that did not seem particularly important to me until some people began to try using immigration as a stumbling block for the LDS church by suggesting that local church leaders should be turning in members who they knew were living in the United States illegally.

Anyone reading the title of this post might have first assumed that the old testament approach to illegal immigration would be stoning – they would be wrong.

The Israelites are told directly in Leviticus 19:33-34 that “if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex (or oppress) him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”

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Categories
culture life

Love Waxing Cold

I won’t link to this kind of news article, but suffice it to say that the prophecy in Matthew 24:12 is clearly coming to pass in our day.

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (emphasis added)

The news that proves this is not exclusive to today, or this year, or even this age, but it is increasing in frequency as the coldness of heart that exists in the absence of love becomes more widespread. People are more likely to cling to fear and hopelessness when they do not have the warmth of love in their hearts to sustain them. Sin has a chilling effect on the heart.

I take comfort in the promise that those who endure to the end shall be saved because it implies that we cannot be dragged down eternally without our choice. I am also comforted by the next phrase:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (emphasis added)

UPDATE 9/25/08: I found an example where I am willing to share a link.

Categories
life

I Gave at the Office

When I see people asking for handouts on the street I have faced a quandry about how to react. I can’t give to all of them and I have no desire to give if the gift would be wasted. After reading Mosiah 4 (again) I realize that “I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give” (verse 24) can apply for those who have enough to give but who have already given as much as they are able.

In my case, I no longer need to feel any pang of regret for not carrying cash to give on the streets when I have already given to organizations that are meant to help those very same individuals. In other words, I gave at the office once I received my means without waiting to see who I might meet on the street. I no longer need worry if I should give and take the chance that it would be used wisely by an individual because I have selected only the most effective charitable organizations to receive what I am able to give.

Categories
culture life

Done in Wisdom and Order

I have heard this statement from Mosiah 4:27 applied to many things:

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.

Somehow in all the repetitions, in my mind the statement had become divorced from the context in which it was given. I don’t mean to suggest that it was not applicable in all the places I have heard it applied, but I learned a lot about the proper disposition of material goods (the context it was given in) when I avoided generalizing the counsel.

The statement was made at the end of king Benjamin encouraging his people to give of their goods to those who sought their help if they were able. His statement was to remind those who might be overly generous, to not bring themselves to a beggars status in their efforts to help the beggars. Making that connection was not a major revelation to me, but combined with much of the best financial advice I have come across I came up with a comprehensive approach to the best way to allocate your money to be generous with others while not running faster than I have financial strength.

There are 5 avenues to dispense with material goods. In the proper order they are:

  1. Tithing
  2. Sustenance
  3. Savings
  4. Philanthropy
  5. Luxury

Having the order is one thing, but knowing how and when to allocate your means to each avenue is the tricky part.

First, pay tithing on whatever means you have. With what remains, provide for your own sustenance, in other words, the necessities of life for yourself and your family.

Second, once you have more means than are necessary for your bare necessities you should allocate some means to savings so as to be able to weather the financial storms that life will bring your way.

Third, when your means are sufficient for you to be able to put some money into savings on a regular basis you should start some form of philanthropy even if you are not able to save as much as you would wish to save. (I use the term philanthropy so as to avoid confusion with some of the meanings of the word “charity.”) As your means increase, you should increase your allocations to both savings and philanthropy in a balanced way (that may not be a 50/50 split, but it should not be giving a pittance to philanthropy while saving large amounts of money).

Fourth, once your savings has increased to the level you feel comfortable with for your future needs you may feel free to allocate excess resources towards some luxuries. (Of course by this time your sustenance should be exceeding a cardboard box for shelter and a diet that is limited to rice and Cup ‘o Noodles®.) As your means continue to increase you should increase your philanthropy at least as much as you increase your luxury (and you might want to increase your savings as well).

Finally, if your material means begin to exceed the level required for luxuries enough to make your live materially easy (meaning that more luxuries would not bring more fulfillment in your life) then you should allocate virtually all increases in your resources toward philanthropy.

Categories
politics

Government and Religion

I was reading Doctrine and Covenants section 134 today. I have read it before on various occasions, but my perspective on government has sharpened considerably since the last time I read it and it struck a chord with me as a wonderful description of the proper interaction between government and religious organizations.

We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.

We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same; and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people if a republic, or the will of the sovereign.

We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.

Doctrine and Covenants 34:2-4

That resonates with my thoughts that government is a divinely sanctioned necessity for maintaining secular order in an otherwise chaotic world and also that the purposes of government are limited to establishing that order while stopping short of interfering with the legitimate agency of its citizens.

I wonder if any government has ever managed to avoid overstepping those very limited bounds consistently.

Categories
life

Deep Connections

I made an interesting connection yesterday during a conversation. Interestingly, I just realized that this connection also ties into a scripture that struck me forcefully the other day:

And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me. (Doctrine and Covenants 59:4 – emphasis mine)

I’m sure there are those who are familiar with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who would say that “commandments not a few” is the defining characteristic in the lives of members of the LDS church. The connection that I made mentally yesterday was about how those “commandments not a few” come.

The conversation was centered on the practice of preparedness through food storage. As we talked about the intricacies of how to store food so that it would last, rotating food that you had stored, and being physically prepared to use that food if the need arose I realized that people who do not heed the counsel to store food are never very aware of the challenges that must be overcome for effective preparedness.

People who begin storing start learning about rotating their food and the need to consume that food as at least a portion of their regular diet. Those who pursue that course of action will find that they are living in direct accordance with some of the aspects of the Word of Wisdom (often called the Lord’s Law of Health, found in Doctrine and Covenants section 89) that are often overlooked. The reason is that we don’t pay attention publicly to the counsel to eat mainly grains, and meat sparingly. When it comes to food storage it is impractical to store food for a diet that does not rely heavily on grains. If you are preparing your body to survive on your food storage by eating it (this also serves to rotate the storage so that it does not site for years unused until it is unusable) then you will be forced to make grains a substantial part of your diet even if they were not very prominent before heeding the counsel to store food.

So, food storage as an incentive to obey the Word of Wisdom more completely – that’s not something you think of every day.

Categories
culture life

Breaking Up

When I saw a disturbing story about a woman shot to death by her estranged husband in my own city it obviously caught my attention. Worse yet, this is coming on the heels of me reading about the breakup of the Nephite society (3 Nephi 7) in the last couple of days. When I was reading that I had started to ask myself “could our society dissolve like that?” I also wondered about what that would actually mean in our time. my initial answer to that question was that yes, having our society dissolve into insular groups with independent standards of behavior is a more or less remote possibility for all societies.

After reading stories like I read today I have to admit that that power of society to create norms of behavior is weaker than we might think. It’s a stark reminder of how thin the line is between civilization and anarchy.