Thoughts about Alternatives if Buying and Selling is Prohibited

Remember these verses?

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

If you’re like me, you may have read these verses and wondered how one might survive if you are prohibited from buying and selling. What alternatives can we imagine?

One alternative that comes to mind immediately is the formation of a black market (or in this case, it would be a white market that is officially deemed “black” by the powers that be.) However, black markets are demoralizing inasmuch as it forces one to live outside the law. Living in fear of discovery like that is no way to live for faithful people who are commanded not to fear but be of good cheer.

This brings us to the other alternative. An alternative economy must be formed on a legal basis, and that alternative economy must operate on principles other than buying and selling. This is hard to imagine, but what it amounts to is that of volunteering, giving and sharing. Charity becomes the legal basis by which the Zion economy must be run at this time. Workers must give their labor to the Lord, and producers must give their production to the Lord and thereby make Zion the clearinghouse for where the labor is to be bestowed and where the goods to be produced must be sent.

This will take a lot of trust, and will likely not be perfect, but it will be a better alternative than taking the mark to be part of a corrupt network or living in fear as part of a black market.

Consecration will be Zion’s protection.

Some Thoughts about Practicalities of Building Consecrating Economies

From time to time we think about the Law of Consecration and discuss the Saints in the early days of the Church and how they couldn’t live it, and we wonder how to live it today and what would be required to build Zion and the New Jerusalem.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the idealistic part of it and imagine how awesome it would be, isn’t it? 

The older I get and the more I think about it, the more I realize that idealizing it actually gets in the way of thinking it through and figuring out how to solve the problems involved. 

It seems like living a life of consecration and building Zion requires a very fine balance between a number of opposing principles. We have to know what they are and master them to get anywhere on this.   There has to be a balance between the individual and the communal, between the material and the spiritual. The idealistic doctrines and the hard economic realities must either mesh harmoniously or be held in a useful tension.  There’s also the matter of finding a way to make it work across different types of economies at different stages of development, in different areas of the world, with different cultures and law systems governing work and ownership and so on.  This is a complex challenge.

It seems to me that it is something that is learned line upon line, and consecration is a culmination of principles. I also think that the way consecration as an economy would be lived now in a modern economy is different than how the Saints tried to live it in the 1800s, simply because the type of economy we live in has changed. 

Consider just one factor—land. In an agricultural economy, consecrating a farm one owns is one thing, but when one’s livelihood comes from employment at a business one doesn’t own, what does consecration look like? A job can’t be consecrated because the employer would probably say it was never a permanent possession. Instead, one would have to consecrate one’s salary.

Maybe we should pull back a little on that and consider how the principle of consecration might mesh with that of self-reliance.

Self-reliance is about providing for one’s own needs and the needs of one’s family. To that end, we seek to obtain a good education and obtain work in a field that provides enough and hopefully a surplus. We pay our tithing, store food and build up an emergency fund for a rainy day. I think we are also expected to get out of debt. Also, budgeting helps with living within our means.

The storing of food and funds for a rainy day suggests that saving is permitted and even expected.  But then we also run into interesting questions. If one is to consecrate one’s surplus, where does one’s responsibility to provide for future expenses begin or end?  If a person always passes on their surplus to the Church, then how does one pay for large future expenses (car replacement, child’s education, medical expenses, house, retirement)?  Or should consecration of surplus happen after putting by savings for the future? 

I have no hard-and-fast answers. Maybe part of consecration is working these things out for ourselves.

Let’s think about the idea of surplus for a bit. Surplus is whatever is left over that isn’t needed. In order for us to know what is surplus, we have to get an idea of what we really need. The tool for this is the budget.

Budgets are beautiful things. Many people tend to think of them as a strait jacket, but what they are is a tool for analyzing spending, discovering your spending priorities, and dealing with financial challenges and future needs.  They help us uncover inefficiencies in our spending.  The power to reallocate funds from category to category helps us deal with emergencies, roll with the punches, control our money instead of letting it control us, and plan ahead. I really think using a budget is a skill that scales in all kinds of interesting directions. Used to the full, it can help us know whether we are materially self-reliant or not, moment to moment, rather than just at the end of the month when it’s time to balance the accounts.  All those little categories represent little bits of our material stewardship.

Let’s think about stewardship a little.  The principle of stewardship is that God is the owner and we are his stewards, so everything we have is part of that. Eventually we will have to give an account of our stewardship (material and spiritual), so we have an eternal interest in working hard, maximizing our efficiency, growing in capability, preserving what we have, and learning to make wise decisions.  Keeping and maintaining a budget is a fabulous tool for seeing how financial decisions have consequences over time.  It reveals inefficiencies. It reveals where our money priorities have been in the past, which is an invitation to evaluate and make changes if needed. 

Here’s another question I have. When it comes time to build the New Jerusalem, I wonder about how its economy will work. Obviously it will require faithful, consecrating people. The faithful people must provide for themselves, so I assume they will have jobs. In order for there to be jobs, there must be businesses and entrepreneurship.  Perhaps they will own the businesses.  But for there to be businesses, there must be demand, so there must be a solid customer base.  Where do these customers come from?

Perhaps the customer base doesn’t have to be in the New Jerusalem itself. Maybe it can be elsewhere.  But for Zion businesses to have a good customer base, the products must be superior enough and/or cheap enough among all the choices available that customers gravitate toward those businesses. (Oh look! Supply-side management! Manufacturing! Economies of scale!) Another factor that makes this tricky is that command economies tend to fall apart, so creating artificial demand or supply is not going to work.  And then there’s the can of worms of hiring faithful members without running afoul of anti-discrimination hiring laws.  Members will have to be work to be the best possible job candidate to be hired on.

Another question I have pertains to how interconnected economies are today. And yet there is a scripture that speaks of Zion becoming independent of all other creatures. Does that independence apply at the individual level, or at the level of economies? Is it possible to be interconnected and yet independent on an aggregate level?

I don’t pretend to know all the factors that have to be in place, but these are a few things that run through my mind.  What about you? 

The Pride of Ephraim and an Economic Lesson about Trust

-->

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5 ¶In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. (Isaiah 28:1-6)

Reading verses 1-4, it is pretty clear to me that Isaiah must have been disgusted with the pride of Ephraim in his day. It seems the land of Ephraim was a beautiful land with beautiful people—“glorious beauty on the head of the fat valleys”—so much so that they were drunk with it. And you get the idea that they had a problem with wine and drunkenness as well.

Isaiah warned them that the Lord could humble them with disaster—hail, storm, flood—which would throw down their pride. He also said that their glorious beauty would fade like a withering flower and like the first-ripe fruit that is eaten immediately.

The way Isaiah calls Ephraim “fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine” makes me wonder what he was seeing.  What makes a valley “fat”?  And why call Ephraim drunkards at the same time he credits them with glorious beauty? Is he calling attention to how drunkenness is unattractive, or is there something deeper going on here?    

Reading this over and over, I wondered if there was a growing problem in Ephraim’s economy that Isaiah was very concerned about and calling attention to.  It is possible that the land of Ephraim was full of vineyards for wine. 

Isaiah may have looked at all those vineyards and wondered, “Who is going to drink all that wine that they make?”  If the place is booming with grapes, then the demand has to come from somewhere to absorb the supply, otherwise some of that supply was foolishly produced.  Isaiah must have reasoned that either Ephraim was drinking it all themselves (in which case they were drunkards), or they were going to try to sell it elsewhere, which meant that the people were chasing high profits, and everyone was piling into the business.  And you can kind of see there is a problem if there is only one crop in an area. The whole place depended upon the crop of grapes. If natural disaster hits and destroyed the crop, everyone there would be affected. 

In verses 5-6, Isaiah anticipates a future day when the people would depend on the Lord instead.

5 ¶In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

Isaiah anticipated that some day, instead of pride, the people would be humble and give the Lord the glory for their success, instead of whatever cash crop made the money roll in.  He wanted the people to trust the Lord instead of their vineyards that were at the mercy of weather patterns that could be capricious and occasionally devastating.

It is instructive to see that ancient Israel seems to have had boom-and-bust periods somewhat like we do, when people would pile into a high-yielding industry.  Embedded in Isaiah’s warning to the Ephraimites is the implied principle that high-yielding industries can be destroyed and can’t be depended upon, but the Lord can be depended upon.

Reflections on Lukewarm Laodicean Saints, Rev 3:14-18

I read these verses recently and something seemed to hit home for me.  They contain words John heard in a vision of Jesus Christ, who spoke messages to the Saints in Laodicea. 

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Rev. 3:14-18)

First, let’s look at verses 15-16.  We usually interpret these verses to mean that the Lord prefers us to be either for Him or against Him, but that He can’t stand our apathy.  But if we think more carefully, we see that this interpretation doesn’t quite work because it doesn’t make sense for Jesus to want someone to be a “cold” enemy.  He wants all to come to Him.  So we have to ask, “Why do both hot and cold seem to be preferable to lukewarm?” 

I got a little bit of a clue from Keith Krell’s online article at Bible.org called “How to Make Jesus Sick (Revelation 3:14-22).” (Kind of an off-putting title, but the article is good.)  In it he suggested that in these verses both cold and hot were positive terms for drink temperatures.  This made sense to me.  Both hot and cold drinks are helpful to us at different times.  Cold drinks are lovely when we have worked up a sweat and need to cool down, while hot drinks (hot chocolate, anyone?) are wonderful when we are cold and we need to raise our core body temperature.  Cold drinks refresh, and hot drinks warm. This suggests that there are “cold saints” and “hot saints” and that both are good. 

Okay, so how could “cold saints” be refreshing?  Well, when we are worried, busy, and wrought up, a “cold saint” is one of those serene people who would calm us down, help us understand that things will work out for the best, and remind us that Heavenly Father will help.  On the other side, when we are reluctant and sluggish, a “hot saint” is one that encourages us, reminds us of our duty and great privileges, who warms us to life and action, and helps us catch the fire again.  When we look at it this way, it is obvious we need both types of saints for the particular good they can do at the right moment! 

A lukewarm saint, however, is useless for either need because they are not enough of either.  They don’t have enough serenity to calm and reassure others, nor do they have enough warmth and passion to encourage and motivate.  We would do well to see where we fall on the continuum of hot and cold.

Okay.  What else did Jesus say to the Laodiceans?  It is clear that he sees their true situation and He also knows how they see their situation.  The two are polar opposites.  

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (v17)

The Laodiceans seem to think that things can’t get any better—they have wealth, they have plenty of goods, and they don’t need anything more from life.  But Jesus knows it is a showy sham.  He applies five adjectives to describe them:

1.     Wetched – of poor quality or condition, very unhappy, morally reprehensible, deserving or inciting pity, having physical misery

2.     Miserable—very unhappy or uncomfortable, of the most contemptible kind, contemptibly small in amount.

3.     Poor—having little money or few possessions

4.     Blind—unable to see, unable or unwilling to perceive and understand

5.     Naked—unclothed, without protecting or concealing cover

I suspect that “poor” was meant to refer to the size of their store of treasures in heaven, that “blind” meant they couldn’t see their own condition for the tragedy it was, and that “naked” meant that their sins were obvious, had not been repented of, and thus had not been covered by the Atonement.

I have to say here that if we’re in comfortable circumstances, it is very easy to become like the Laodiceans.  And even if we’re not in a cushy place, that cushy ideal is a big part of the programming in our societal messages, the place we aim for.  Can we imagine ourselves rejecting that ideal?  I wish I could say that I was independent of it, but I sadly, I realize that it is part of me to the extent that when I try to imagine myself without it, I feel odd, a bit unmoored and at sea.

To remedy the situation, Jesus counsels the saints of Laodicea to buy from Him (and He is the only source) the following:

·      “gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich” – If Jesus is the only source of this gold, then it is highly symbolic, referring to the refinement of the soul. Through this expression we learn the principle that the refining of our soul through trials is what makes us rich.  These are the kinds of riches that can’t be stolen.

·      “white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear”—The white clothing is purity and we buy it from Christ through repentance and then He covers our sins.

·      “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see”—Jesus wants to heal our perspective so we can see the spiritual realities of life.

If we notice, the counsel Jesus gives is meant to address the three conditions of “poor,” “blind,” and “naked.”   I imagine the conditions of misery and wretchedness would naturally take care of itself.

It seems to me that the remedies Jesus lists have to be done in a certain order.  First the eyesalve so we can see our status for what it really is, then the white clothing as we repent, and then the gold tried in the fire, as we become better through our trials. 

At bottom, Jesus used a different standard to measure the Loadiceans’ lives from the one they used for themselves, and His standard was based on different priorities from the world.  To the Laodiceans, the ideal was wealth, security, and needing nothing.  To Christ, the ideal was to be refined by trials and purified while keeping an eternal perspective. 

In what ways can we reach more toward Christ's standard?  I think paying tithing and fast offerings is one way that we demonstrate that; can you think of any other things?

The priorities of Babylon and lamentations for its desolation

11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her [Babylon]; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (Revealtion 18:11-13)

Elsewhere I have posted about Captain Moroni’s priority list as found on the title of liberty.  It is important to note that Babylon has its own priority list that we must guard against adopting. 

We can see this priority list above in the list of goods that Babylon won’t be able to buy any more, which causes the merchants and suppliers to face total ruin.  If we look at it carefully, we see that it reads like a priority list of materialism, and notice that people come last.  And not for any actual care; remember, this is a list of merchandise.

First comes currency—gold and silver—because it is the medium of exchange.  As the devil said, “You can buy anything in this world for money..”

Next comes the jewelry—precious stones and pearls—because they are almost as liquid as currency and can be worn as status symbols.

Third comes luxury fashion—fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet—the most difficult and time-consuming and costly clothing to make.  No ordinary homespun for these people; Babylon places a high priority on status symbols you can wear to demonstrate your importance instantly.

Next comes the fancy furniture—all thyne wood—because you have to have the best décor at home to demonstrate your worth when people come to visit, and you want everything you see at home to remind you how important and special you are.

After that comes the containers to hold all your stuff—vessels of ivory, most precious wood, brass, iron, and marble—because you can’t have all your stuff in a disorganized mess and just laying around.  The best stuff deserves the best containers, you know.

Then come the sensory pleasures of smell—cinnamon, odours, ointments and frankincense—because you want to create an aura of luxury and importance wherever you go.  Plus you want to cover up any scent of harsh reality, like dirt, sweat, infection, or rotting food.

And then after that are the sensory pleasures of taste—wine, oil, fine flour, and wheat—but of course wine is more valued than wheat because wheat merely sustains life whereas wine… well you can’t have any fun without intoxication, can you? 

After that comes animal life—beasts, sheep, and horses—because they can do all this work for you, or you can eat them, and they don’t sass back, and you can buy and sell them, and if they are vicious, they can be a weapon to protect you and hurt your enemies.. And they are yet another way of displaying wealth.

Then comes transportation—horses and chariots—because heaven forbid you should stay in the same place all the time or be forced to walk everywhere or have to travel among the common rabble.  You’re too important to be kept waiting; you deserve speed.  What speed limits?

Oh, and humans.. ah.. human life isn’t that big a deal.  Slaves definitely rate higher than souls in Babylon, that’s for sure.  Slaves have to do what you tell them, but souls you have to persuade and cajole and bribe and threaten.

So what else do we notice about this list?

1.     Lifeless things are higher on the list than live things.  Babylon cares more about stuff than about life.

2.     Animal life is higher on the list than human life.

3.     Liquidity is considered higher priority than status symbols, hence the world loves those who are rich but don’t show it even more than it loves the show of wealth, and this means those without status symbols have to make sure everyone knows about their liquidity so that they still get respect from people they don’t know.

4.     Status symbols are a higher priority than the pleasures of the senses, so you will find people flocking to status symbols even if said symbols make them uncomfortable. 

5.     Babylon values superfluous pleasures of the senses much more than it values common or necessary things.  Hence, scents are a higher priority than actual food, and if you consider food, extravagance, dainties, and mind-altering substances have higher priority than good, solid, healthy nourishment.

We are specifically warned to depart from Babylon in that same chapter:

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4)

If we adopt any of Babylon’s priorities, we will also experience Babylon’s plagues—medical, social, and spiritual.  If we come out of Babylon and avoid her sins, then we will be spared those plagues.  Yes, trouble and affliction is a natural part of life, but then there are also consequences of sin that we can avoid by.. not sinning. 

What happens to it all?  It all disappears.  The same chapter of Revelation that gives us this list of merchandise and priorities also describes the lamentations of the kings, merchants, and shipmen devastated by the desolation of Babylon.  Their lamentations are instructive to us.

9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. (Revelation 18:9-10)

The kings call Babylon “that mighty city,” indicating that they derived much if not all their power to rule from Babylon’s resources and power to coerce, the military-industrial complex.  Once Babylon is gone, their power is gone as well, and they don’t see any alternative way to gain, hold, or use power.  They think Babylon was mighty, but they aren’t willing to see that the Lord is mightier.

Kings were those who dispensed judgment and they recognize that the fall of Babylon is deserved.  They should have administered judgment on Babylon themselves, but they held back, preferring to unite and partner with Babylon rather than do their judicial duty.  Perhaps they though rendering judgment would open a huge can of worms, diverting resources to catch and try criminals.. So it is notable that they marvel over the speed that judgment comes to Babylon—“in one hour is thy judgment come.” 

Who else laments over Babylon?

15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought…  (Revelation 18:15-17)

The merchants lament that once Babylon is destroyed no one buys their merchandise any more; there is no demand whatsoever.  Peoples’ priorities are completely different outside of Babylon, and it is depressing to these people to find that all the goods they worked to aggregate for sale are no longer valuable.  And since they probably measured their own worth according to what they made, they probably felt suddenly worthless.

Additionally, though the merchants had been made rich by Babylon, suddenly it didn’t matter any more. “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought,” they lament.  The riches they worked so hard to accumulate don’t matter in eternity, and suddenly they are faced with the realization that from now on, everyone is to be considered of equal worth, no matter what their wealth or status has been.  They can’t stand that idea, since they worked so hard to establish their value through wealth.  Wealtn no longer matters without Babylon, but they can’t seem to imagine any other way.  To them, it is wealth or oblivion.  They wanted riches so they could buy the corrupted delicacies of Babylon, but now there’s nothing to buy!  It’s all gone.

Another way that so great riches may come to nought for the merchants is if they can’t hold back a disaster that they felt they could avert or survive with a large enough financial cushion.

Who else laments Babylon’s demise?

…And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. (Revelation 18:17-19)

The shipmasters and sailors represent those in charge of transporting goods to Babylon.  They foresee that the destruction of Babylon means there won’t be nearly the amount of goods to move about, so their business is going to slump immensely.  They say, “What city is like unto this great city!” which indicates they can’t even imagine any alternative to Babylon.  The city of Zion isn’t on their radar at all.  They could always depend on finding a port in Babylon to deliver their goods, but now they are left floating with no place to go.

All the demand for what they could transport to Babylon meant they could charge exorbitant prices, become rich, and then partake of those same luxuries and vices of Babylon, but now it is all gone, their riches mean nothing, there’s nothing to their corrupted taste to buy anyway, and all their skills and cunning and equipment are superfluous. 

To them all, the judgment on Babylon seems to come “in one hour” without warning, yet we know there is always plenty of warning given.  They just chose not to listen, so there was no time for them to prepare for anything different.  (Of course, during the time the Saints were coming out of Babylon, Babylon’s prospects seemed to be getting better and better, so they deceived themselves into staying.)

They are all shocked by how totally Babylon was destroyed.  Everything they loved, everything that mattered to them, everything that made them who they were and wanted to be was gone forever. 

The kings, merchants, and shipping masters mourn for Babylon because they can’t imagine living any other way than the Babylon way.  They didn’t fit in with any other way.  They had oriented their lives totally in terms of Babylon, so without it they realize their total and complete spiritual poverty.

These verses teach me that I can’t let myself get comfortable with the worldly status quo of “you can buy anything in this world for money” and Babylon priorities.  I have to be able to imagine another way—Zion.  I have to work toward Zion, and see something different. 

When you think about Zion, how do you see it as different from the world we live in now?

To prosper in the land

Prosperity.  We want of some of that, don’t we?  Here’s what my favorite dictionary says:

“Prosper: make steady progress; be at the high point in one’s career or reach a high point in historical significance or importance; bloom, flourish, flower, fly high, thrive” (WordWeb dictionary iPad ap)

We tend to look at the word prosper in the scriptures in only a financial/economic sense.  But I have started to realize that in many instances, to prosper refers more to spiritual growth, and that spiritual growth was what the prophets wanted for the people when they promised that keeping the commandments would cause the people to prosper in the land.

Take statements like that of Alma to his son Helaman:

O remember, remember, my son Helaman,

how strict are the commandments of God.

And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—

but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence. (Alma 37:13)

Thinking logically, if keeping the commandments brought financial success, then not keeping the commandments would bring financial ruin and failure.  But that is not what the warning part says.  It says not keeping the commandments will cut us off from the presence of the Lord.  It doesn’t make sense for the blessing and the cursing to be such different things, one temporal and the other spiritual.  But if prosperity means spiritual growth, then the cursing of being cut off from the presence of the Lord would make a lot more sense.  If fact, it would be perfectly obvious!

If we are spiritually minded, then spiritual growth will be a higher priority for us than financial success.  Financial gain is not synonymous with godliness, so why should we pretend it is?  Financial success (if honestly gotten) depends on learning skills that others are willing to pay well for, hard work, honesty, and careful use of resources.

Spiritual growth, on the other hand, depends on keeping the commandments.  If so, then it is possible to prosper in the land even if we aren’t financially successful.  There are also people who have gained financial success honestly, but who are cut off from the presence of the Lord because they don’t keep the commandments besides the ones that have implications for financial accumulation.

In the scriptures we are promised we will prosper (progress spiritually) if we:

• Keep the commandments
• Keep our covenants (“Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.” (Duet. 29:9))
• Seek the Lord (“And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.” (2 Chron. 26:5))
• Trust the Lord  (“we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.” (Hel. 12:1))
• Believe the prophets (“Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me… Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chron. 20:20))
• Build temples and keep them purified (“And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it…And, now, behold, if Zion do these things she shall prosper, and spread herself and become very glorious, very great, and very terrible.” (D&C 97:15,18))

We are similarly promised we will not prosper if we:

• Transgress the commandments
• Cover our sins (“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Prov. 28:13))
• Fight against God (“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).)
• Allow ourselves to be lulled into carnal security (“And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.”(2 Nephi 28:21))
• Don’t reason according to gospel principles (“And my servant Leman shall be ordained unto this work, that he may reason with them, not according to that which he has received of them, but according to that which shall be taught him by you my servants; and by so doing I will bless him, otherwise he shall not prosper.”(D&C 49:4))

 One final thought:  Recently when my husband and I were at the Mesa temple having finished an endowment session, we came down the long grand staircase that leads straight from the third floor to the first floor, and we paused midway at a landing to let two other sessions’ worth of people go up to the ordinance rooms.  I stood there as men and women flowed to the left and to the right past us, climbing upward in a river of white dresses, white shirts, white pants, white packets… The minutes it took for all of them to pass seemed to stretch out and time seemed to slow down for me.  I looked into the eyes of these brothers and sisters climbing diligently, some smiling, some solemn, and I felt like I was midway up on Jacob’s ladder while angels climbed around me.  The impression I got was of multitudes of Saints in eternal progress.  It showed me the temple is a place of great prosperity, for both those here and those behind the veil.

Now here’s a question for you: Does spiritual growth come from simply keeping the commandments through to the end of your life (enduring to the end), or does it come from improving the exactness with which you keep the commandments?  Or does it come from keeping more commandments?  Or is it all of the above?  What are your thoughts?  And why?

Gratitude challenge: 10 aspects of the economy I’m thankful for

I want to continue to cultivate gratitude, so in addition to my post “Take the Gratitude Challenge,” I thought I’d continue my list, this time with 10 things about the economy that I’m thankful for. (Yes, I know the economy is troubled, and people are having a very difficult time, but there are things about having an economy that make our lives better, so we really need to remember these things.)

1. I’m thankful for money. It is wonderful to have something that can be used as a universal means of exchange. Using money means that it is a lot easier to exchange our services for things that we need. Rather than having to search hard to find someone who needs our skills and has something we need, we can use money in our exchange.

2. I’m thankful for prices. Prices mean that I have a way to compare value and decide what I can or can’t afford. (Prices also cause me to be even happier when I find something FREE!)

3. I’m thankful for savings. I’m glad it is possible to save because it means that I can sacrifice now for something big I want in the future. It is wonderful to be able to store money for use later. Building savings makes financial preparations possible.

4. I’m thankful for banks. I’m grateful for banks because they eliminate worry about whether our money is safe or not. Without banks, everyone would have to find a secret place in their house to keep their money and they would always be worried about being robbed. Also, without banks, if you needed to borrow a lot of money, you would have to get a very rich person to agree to lend, or get a lot of your neighbors to agree to lend. Borrowing from banks makes it simpler.

5. I’m thankful for checks. Checks are something to be grateful for because it means you don’t have to carry quantities of cash around with you to pay someone. It means that you can pay someone exactly what you owe while keeping your money in the bank.

6. I’m thankful for credit. Credit causes a lot of problems if we don’t use it very carefully, but when we do, it can be very helpful. Credit means that you can get what you need when you know you will have money but don't have it yet; people are willing to trust you that you will eventually pay them. I am thankful that people trust enough to give credit.

7. I’m thankful for taxes. You may think I’m crazy, but yes, I’m also thankful for taxes (within limits, of course). Paying taxes means that no one person is burdened with the full cost of providing services for the public good. It also means that I can help pay for roads and schools and the protection of police and I don’t have to worry about exactly how to spend that money.

8. I’m thankful for contracts. They make it possible to make a complicated exchange over a period of time. They also make it so that you don't have to renegotiate an exchange that you know is going to happen often in the future the same way each time. I’m thankful they can be written down so that each party remembers what they agreed to do and what they can expect from the other parties in the contract.

9. I’m thankful for buying on the internet. Buying on the internet makes it easier for me to find things that I need even when I can’t find them for sale in my town.

10. I'm thankful for budgets. Budgets are HUGE. A budget make it possible to see how actual spending compares to planned spending. It makes it possible to be sure that we are spending less than we earn. It helps me make more realistic spending plans and helps me see how my savings progresses toward big purchases. It helps my husband and I stay unified financially because we both know where the money should go and how much. It helps me spend responsibly. It gives me opportunities and incentives to spend carefully. It helps us avoid impulse spending so we can spend according to what is really important to us.

Quite likely you’ve read this list and have said to yourself a number of times, “Yes, that’s good in theory, but right now…” Yes, yes, I know, corruption has occurred. It is a sign we have to get back to the economic basics. Making this list has shown me that if we don’t misuse or corrupt these aspects, we really have much to be thankful for about the economy.

To buy, sell, and get gain

In July, we got a 2009 Subaru Impreza to replace my husband’s 1995 Geo Prizm. Recently my husband and I got an offer in the mail from a nearby Subaru dealership to buy our Subaru from us. The letter said that they were experiencing extra demand for our make and model and they wanted to buy our new car from us so they could fill that demand.

To a certain extent, it was a rather tempting opportunity to make some money from our new car. But ultimately, I felt like it would be rather silly to sell our car so quickly after having bought it. Finding a car to buy in our household is a monumentally long process consisting of many months of discussion in night walks around the block, hours perusing internet car sales sites, and lots of test-driving sessions. We worked so long and hard to find a good car at a good price to buy that I didn’t relish the thought of having to repeat the process all over again.

It made me think of stories I’ve heard of people who buy an in-demand product at a low price and then immediately sell it to someone else on eBay. And this little phrase from the Book of Mormon started playing itself through my mind: “to buy and to sell, and to get gain” (Helaman 6:8). And I started thinking through what an economy is like that buys and sells to get gain.

In order to make a profit, a seller has to buy something at lower price than what he sells it for. If there’s only one stage of this between producer and end user, it’s okay, but what if few people hold on to what they buy and the majority continually tries to sell at a higher price? Eventually it runs up the price to ridiculous levels and soon the market will no longer bear it. This causes several effects:
• It puts the producers at a major disadvantage if they can’t directly profit.
• It puts great pressure on the market to find cheaper ways of acquiring the goods or services at a lower price.

With such great pressure many people will jump into that market both to take advantage of high prices and to try to find a lower-priced source of that good or service for themselves. At some point, there is a glut and the price falls. Then this causes several other effects:
• Sellers have to go find new markets to tap where their products are scarce and in demand.
• Sellers who can’t find new markets go bust.
• Or they take matters into their own hands and collude together to control the supply and means of production so they can create artificial scarcity.

Meantime, the producers are still unable to profit and may be even worse off because the market glut makes their goods and services worth even less than before.

Here’s an interesting example of what happens when people don’t buy what they need and hold it: on May 6, 2010, the Dow lost 400 points in a matter of minutes as stock broker computer programs bought and sold future contracts to each other faster and faster and faster. This created what has been called “the Flash Crash.” “SEC/CFTC Report: SKYnet Caused Flash Crash”

Another more serious problem is that it is easy for markets to forget about the importance of adding value and get addicted to the easy profit from buying then selling higher that happens during a boom period. A market that has forgotten the importance of adding value is a market that is desperate for the next boom and will go looking for it and is determined to create it. That kind of market is parasitic. It is precariously close to becoming seduced into secret combinations and fraud. It is a few steps from that to a revival of slavery of production.

Again, how to escape? Be industrious and add value to what you sell.

The function of the gold limnah and the silver onti in the Nephite currency system

The Nephite system of currency was a binary system. This is manifested by how the values of each coin or measurement were twice the value of a lower denomination or half the value of the upper denomination. The advantage of a binary system is that it becomes easy to do mathematical functions on the numbers. Adding in particular becomes easy.

One odd part of the currency system is the gold limnah and the silver onti, whose value is reckoned as the value of “them all.”
Limnah = senine + seon + shum
Onti = senum + amnor + ezrom

In an intangible binary system, there is no need for a denomination that specifically represents a cumulative value of all the lesser ones. However, when the denominations stand for something heavy and tangible like silver or gold, there is an advantage of convenience in being able to exchange a large amount of metal for a small amount of metal. This makes it easier to carry large sums.

But this is not the whole reason for the gold limnah and the silver onti. The main reason lies in accounting and carrying numbers. Again, adding two binary numbers is pretty easy. (Below, I have used the silver denominations in my examples.)

What if you have to add lots of binary numbers? (People who collected taxes or fees or tribute would have to do this.) The larger the sums, the more likely you will have carry bits that slosh outside the range of your reckoning.







The function of the silver onti (and the gold limnah) were to flush the higher reckoning columns of digits so that no sneaky carry bit would escape their system. First they would bleed the higher denomination columns of bits (represented by the blue numbers). When they could no longer make ontis, they knew they could start adding.











In summary, the denomination of the gold limnah and silver onti were designed to cope with the inevitable carry bits that would result from adding together large sums.

From Humble Poverty to Proud Prosperity: Lessons from Alma 4

While I was reading Alma 4, I noticed something interesting. Alma 4 starts out with the people of Nephi “greatly afflicted for the loss of their brethren, and also for the loss of their flocks and herds, and also for the loss of their fields of grain, which were trodden under foot and destroyed by the Lamanites” (Alma 4:2). This is in the sixth year of the reign of the judges.

The result of this affliction was that every one had reason to be sad, and amazingly, they all believed that their afflictions were a judgment of God sent because of their wickedness, so they began to remember their duty.

A mere two years later, we find the people of the church in this state:

And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. (Alma 4:6)

It is amazing to me that in only two years, the people go from a state of poverty and loss to a state of such abundance. I think that can give us some hope in this difficult economic climate.

It is also amazing to me that they could go from a state of such humility to a state of such pride and scorn in which they began “to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own will and pleasure” (Alma 4:8).

The problem of their pride unfortunately stems from the specific cause of their humility. Because they believed that their loss was punishment from God for their sins, after two years of hard work and righteousness, they believed that their prosperity was reward from God for their righteousness. But Mormon is very clear that they had obtained these things because of their industry. Certainly industry is a part of righteousness and it shows that there is a strong work ethic, but it is not the only part of righteousness. Further, the motives for work ethic can be all over the board, from self-aggrandizement to desires to help others.

Unless we can get out of the cycle of remembering our duty to God only when we are afflicted with temporal losses, we will not escape from the pride cycle. Do we remember our duty after our gains? We remember our duty when our to-do lists are overflowing. Do we remember our duty to God on vacations? Do we remember our duty after our victories and successes? Gratitude can help us remember.

It is my conviction that if we cultivate gratitude in our lives to a greater degree, it will enable us to maintain humility and thus keep us in the way of our duty to God even when things are going well for us.

I think one of my New Year’s Resolutions is going to be to take some time every day to consider what Heavenly Father has done for me.

The Spiritual Perils of Going Through Foreclosure

Whether or not you have noticed, there is a movement among a number of people who say that if homeowners are underwater they should just walk away and allow their house to go into foreclosure to get out from underneath the debt. There are others who say that the homeowner should try to get a loan modification.

Please consider the article “How Banks View Loan Modifications.”

When I read this article, I was very disturbed that the writer seemed to say that a homeowner should not feel guilty and ashamed. The subtext seemed to be “The banks are trying to emotionally manipulate you to think that you are the bad guy, so get back at them by determining to not feel guilty about going through foreclosure.”

This is wrong on so many levels.

I know by sad experience (though not with foreclosure) that when a person makes a conscious decision to not feel sorry for something they have done wrong, they are deadening their conscience. It is refusing to sacrifice a broken heart and contrite spirit. Unless they realize what has happened and speedily repent, the Spirit will cease striving with them and they will become as the Nephites of old in Mormon’s day—good for nothing but to be hewn down and cast into the fire.

I can’t emphasize enough how DANGEROUS this spiritual state is.
Repenting of it requires:

• Praying for forgiveness for the decision to not feel sorry
• Praying for forgiveness for all other sins committed which caused the decision
• Praying to overcome all temptation to shrink from the pain of a broken heart

I’m not talking about a few sporadic prayers. Constant prayer is required. It’s a very hard and painful process. You DON’T EVER want to go there.

Back to the foreclosure issue. Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not making any kind of judgment of people who have their house foreclosed. There are all kinds of ways people get into this predicament. I just want to point out the spiritual dangers and consequences of going through it. To not do what you promise to do in a contract is a sin, but there is a difference between deliberate delinquency and being forced into something by circumstances. Having nothing to pay is one thing, but deliberately withholding payment while possessing the means to pay is another.

Either way, the Atonement of Christ covers all sins and transgressions. God can forgive and God can provide. But of course we have to do everything in our power to avoid sin first.

If you happen to be getting the phone calls and letters from the banks that the article describes, realize that it amounts to spiritual abuse.

14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts. (Isaiah 3:14-15)

Fortunately Christ has told us how we should act if we experience this type treatment.

43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? (Matthew 5:43-47)

By doing this, the unfortunate experience of foreclosure can be transformed from an embittering, confidence-destroying, and spiritually dangerous experience into a refiner’s fire that yields greater charity and a godly character.