Observations on the poor Zoramites

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And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do? (Alma 32:5)

In this verse the poor Zoramites ask Alma how they can worship God, since they have been cast out of the synagogues.

I was reading this verse recently and thinking about the predicament of the poor Zoramites, and suddenly that bit about how they had labored abundantly to build the synagogues stuck out to me.  They may have been poor in gold and silver and material things, but they were labor-rich, since hard work is the foundation of material prosperity.  It was too bad they were in a Zoramite society that revered the possession more than the labor of production that could create things, like synagogues.  The materialist attitude that surrounded them is like prizing the fruit, but cutting down the tree trunk that nourished it.

Also, I have to wonder if the poor Zoramites had been encouraged to work on the synagogues in order to exploit their labor with the secret intent to eventually deny them the use of those synagogues. Would they have worked as hard if they had known they would be cast out? The poor Zoramites clearly had expectations and felt a strong sense of ownership because of the labor they put in. (We would probably call this sweat equity today.)

Anyway, for me this verse about the poor Zoramites’ abundant labor teaches me that hard work itself is riches and success. If you can create and produce, you can prosper.  Of course, we can argue all day about wage rates, but at the fundamental level, if I can make hard work and production an integral part of my character, then I lay the foundation for systemic success and prosperity.  If my intent is to work hard more than gaining riches, then even if riches come (or go), I won’t be owned by them.  Spiritually, the love of work is more success because I can take that into the eternities, whereas I can’t take material things.

Take Heed Lest Your Hearts Be Overcharged

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (Luke 21:34)

This bit comes during Christ’s explanation of the signs of the second coming.

The part that puzzles me is that word “overcharged.”  If it were in a retail context, it would mean “paying too much.”  If it were in an electronics context, it would mean “ too much electricity put in.”  With the list of surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life, it sounds like it is saying some surfeiting, drunkenness, and worldly care is alright, but not too much.  But that rubs us wrong because from what we know of Jesus’ holiness, we can’t imagine He would look upon those things with any degree of allowance, especially among the Saints who are supposed to know better.  (I don’t know if we can totally get rid of worldly care though.. If so, I would love someone to tell me how!)

The word “surfeiting” is kind of tricky too. There is a footnote for it that says “debauchery” and a reference to the Topical Guide to “rioting and reveling.” That seems really odd.  Are the Saints really going to be inclined to debauchery, rioting, and reveling?  That is really out of character for Saints. 

This may be a case where we have to leave the KJV and look at other translations.  I want to call your attention to Biblehub.com, which gives parallel verses among a whole mess of translations.  They help us with this particular verse because they give alternate phrasing. 

Overcharged – weighed down/ dulled/ loaded down/ grow cold/ laden

Surfeited – carousing/ dissipation/ self-indulgence/ gluttony/ drunk/ excess

These words above give an overarching sense of excess.  When you add to that drunkenness and the cares of this life, you start to get the feeling that the verse is a warning against excess, even in activities that are lawful in and of themselves.  (Yes, drunkenness is unlawful among the Saints, but there are more things one can be drunk on besides drink or drugs.  Self-indulgence in anything to excess can dull our spiritual sensitivities, even if there is no earthly law against it.)

The Saints know better than to go after the sins of the heathen.  But we get under stress and we have to find ways to relax and recreate our strength.  It is also an article of faith to us to seek after everything that is virtuous, of good report, and praiseworthy.. but we also have a tendency to want to own everything that is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy.  We like our pleasures a lot, along with our phones, our social media, our TV and Netflix, and so on.  I think Jesus’ warning really is for our day, telling us the excess is dangerous because it keeps us unaware of what’s really happening and lulls us into passivity, just as if we were drunk.

It is amazing to me that this warning was given so long ago for our day.  The warning against excess shows us Jesus knew a time would come when so much would be available that even the Saints could be mesmerized by it.

The Pride of Our Eyes

Here’s the scene—I was in Thailand on vacation last week, struggling with myself over whether I should find some nice Thai silk dresses to buy. I had already tried some on, but for one reason or another, they didn’t fit, they weren’t a color I wanted, or the style didn’t work. I had already gotten some nice things as souvenirs and had told myself that was enough, but I kept finding myself yearning for some fine silk clothes, yet also feeling guilty for that yearning and trying harder to be content, then being annoyed that I had to try so hard.

My rational mind could come up with plenty of reasons why I should not think twice about buying what I wanted. 1) “You’ll never get another chance.” (That was the biggest one.) 2) “It will be so nice.” 3) “You love pretty things.” Yet my spiritually sensitive self got annoyed about it as a sign of materialism. And then the other part of me wondered, why should this be made into a spiritual issue? I just like nice clothes; what is wrong with getting nice clothes?

Well, the Lord led me to a number of scriptures in the Book of Mormon where the state of lifting one’s self up in the pride of one’s eyes was followed very quickly by wearing fine or costly apparel.

And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. (Jacob 2:13, emphasis added)

Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish. (Alma 31:28)

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. (Mormon 8:36-37)

There were quite a few scriptures besides these I have shown, and after reading them all, I felt roundly rebuked. Not that the Thai silk clothes would be expensive--clothes are much cheaper there--but they would definitely be “fine apparel.” So I had to ask the Lord just how fine or costly apparel was connected to pride and how to know if I was really in a bad way. Some questions came into my mind to ask myself, which I will share with you.

• Is your clothing a significant means of self-expression for you?
• Do you try to set yourself apart from everyone else merely by the clothes you wear?
• Are you trying to wow people with your fashion and style?
• Do you want people to be impressed by you on the basis of your clothes?
• Do you judge yourself by your clothing? Is your clothing a gauge of your worth and legitimacy?
• Are you embarrassed if you run into someone else wearing the same outfit or who matches you to a startling degree?
• Do you measure yourself by others or compare your fashion and look to others’ fashion?
• Do you judge others by their clothing?
• Do you find yourself dismissing others on no other grounds than the clothes they wear?
• Does your clothing contradict principles of physical comfort (makes you cold in winter, or too hot in summer, pinched, restrained, physically unstable, etc.) and you put up with it because it is stylish?
• Do you like shopping, wearing fine clothes, decorating, and all your stuff more than you like helping the poor and needy, the sick and the afflicted?

It was kind of disturbing how many of those were true for me. Obviously I need to repent. Also, I realized that the phrase “lifted up in the pride of one’s eyes” meant nothing more than being proud of how one looks.

Yet, I’ve also found myself wondering what is the right attitude to take about my clothes and the right thing to do, since it seems like it would be a mistake to wear ugly clothes and completely neglect how I look. I’ve done a lot of pondering. I already know about the principles of modesty, physical comfort, and situational appropriateness. I wondered what other principles could help me avoid pride in relation to my clothes.

Thankfully, I found the solution also in the Book of Mormon.

And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely. (Alma 1:27)

There are three keys here--avoiding costly apparel, dressing neatly, being comely.

I think “costly” can be defined to mean a price that takes an undue chunk out of your budget so that other important needs are short-changed. From a worldly perspective, low cost clothes are great because then you can have more of them, but that’s not the goal from a Zion perspective. The Zion perspective is that low cost clothes are great because then you have more money available to help others. (That requires not just thriftiness, but unselfishness. Clearly, that perspective is a higher standard.)

Second, be “neat.” The dictionary says “neat” means:

• arranged in an orderly, tidy way
• (of a person) habitually tidy, well groomed, or well organized
• having a pleasing shape or appearance; well formed or regular
• very good or excellent; pleasant
• done with or demonstrating skill or efficiency

Third, be “comely.” The dictionary says “comely” means:

• (typically of a woman) pleasant to look at; attractive
• agreeable; suitable

I hope these principles will help me avoid pride in the future. What helps you keep from being “lifted up in the pride of your eyes” in this fashion-crazy world?

Image: Dressaday.com, http://www.dressaday.com/2005/09/it-started-off-being-about-a-dress-anyway.html.

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.

Helaman on Maintaining Possessions

But behold, our armies are small to maintain so great a number of cities and so great possessions. (Alma 58:32)

The context of this verse is one of war. Helaman the prophet-general is writing to Captain Moroni about his efforts to reconquer and maintain the cities and lands of the Nephites from the Lamanite armies. Helaman afterward asks for more men so that he can do it with greater ease. However, the concerns that he expresses about his army’s ability to maintain a large number of possessions and cities are immediately applicable in home organization.

Too many possessions

In the case of Helaman’s army, the number of cities that they had exceeded the capability of their army to protect. They could have split the army up and sent a mini-army to each city, but each mini-army would have been inadequate alone to protect against the innumerable Lamanite army. Likewise, to bounce between cities depending upon where the Lamanite army threat happened to appear would leave all the other cities unprotected if a second Lamanite army happened to come into the land.

In the case of home organization, we do not know where breakage will occur among our possessions. The more possessions we have, the thinner our attention and time is spread to enjoy them and the less money we can devote to maintaining each of them. For example, our family has a budget that we use for the purchase and repair of all forms of our transportation. We use it to care for two cars, two bikes, and one motor scooter. Recently we just bought a car and sold our oldest one because it was needing repairs more and more frequently and those repairs were increasing in cost. The frequent repairs were taking away from the amount that could be spent on our other car, which also was needing repairs more frequently. Further, the repair costs were drawing down our budget and slowing our saving toward a new car!

Through all of this, my husband has wanted to buy another scooter. I have not been supportive of this because our scooter needs repairs even more often than the oldest car, though scooter repair costs are about a third of a car’s. I see that if we have two scooters, we will essentially double the number of visits to the scooter repair shop and double the expense of scooter upkeep. I knew this would also make it harder to save for a new car.

Too great possessions

In the case of Helaman’s army, great possessions, though they are great, are not simple to protect. They are complex and require many different lines of defense. The more great and complex they are, the more manpower is required to maintain the same level of defense as something smaller and simpler. Large cities require more men for the same functions.

In the case of home organization, the more complex and elaborate our possessions, the more difficult it is to maintain them because there is a greater probability of one of the systems failing. Also, the day-to-day maintenance increases in size and scale so that it takes much more time and energy to do a simple task to the point that there won’t be as much energy left for the other tasks. For example, it takes a certain amount of time and energy to vacuum the carpet in a 2000 square foot house. It takes twice as much time and energy to vacuum the carpet in a 4000 square foot house. After vacuuming the 2000 square foot house, it is not so bad to go and clean the 2.5 bathrooms, but in the 4000 square foot house, after vacuuming twice as much carpet, there is much less energy left over for cleaning the 5 bathrooms. (Yes, larger houses have more bathrooms so that people still have only 30-40 feet to go to find a bathroom from wherever they are in the house.) (Disclosure: Our house is a little over 1000 square feet and only has 1 bathroom… and it still doesn’t get cleaned very often.)

Possessions in too many different locations.

In the case of Helaman and his army, the greater number of locations they had to protect, the thinner their time and energy would be spread, the more difficult it would be to remember what resources they had at each city, and the more they would spend their time traveling instead of actual fighting. If they left one city with plenty of piles of rocks to sling at the enemy, they wouldn’t be able to count on that being there if they had to return to save the city. (The inhabitants would have used those supplies up to a certain extent in trying to hold off a Lamanite invasion.)

In the case of home organization, if you have multiple homes, that means you have to stock that home with the basics of what you need when you get there, and essentially you have just doubled the number of stocking and cleaning tasks you will need to do. If you keep things at different locations besides your primary residence, you will tend to forget what you have and where it is—I know a woman who has this very problem—so you will increase the searching time it takes to find something, unless you can implement some kind of inventory tracking system. Travel time and expense becomes a consideration. (Disclosure: Our family does not own a second residence, but I have made these observations of those who do.)

On the scale of a single home, there has been a trend among organization experts to advocate buying multiples of what tends to get lost. For instance, they say that if the scissors tend to get lost, buy multiple pairs and you will never have to worry again because then you can place a pair everywhere you tend to need one and then they will always be there. I have found that this advice fails in an epic way to take into account the organizational skills (or lack thereof) of the person who complains they can’t find the scissors. I have seen this in action. The person is always using the scissors far away from wherever they are stored, and they never put them back when they are done. They may cut out their sewing patterns using the kitchen scissors in the living room and then shove the scissors out of sight under the couch. They next need scissors in the bedroom to clip some tags from clothes they bought, so they go to the den for scissors and when they are done, they leave them on the bedroom dresser. Then two days later, junior needs the scissors for a school project and can’t find them and everyone has to look for the scissors because none of the pairs are where they are supposed to be. (Alternately, you have one neat person trying to cope while surrounded with a family of messy people in which case they simply need to keep their stuff locked up in one place so they can always find it, otherwise it will always be carried off by the messies who always will want to use the neat person’s stuff because they never have to search for it first.) I have seen similar scenarios play out with reading glasses, writing implements, tape, screwdrivers, and flashlights, to name a few.

From another perspective, multiple things at home mean that space is unavailable for other stuff or other activities. The bigger these objects are, the more of a problem they cause. For instance, in our family, the computers end up in multiple places—den, living room, and dining room. That’s THREE places where computers are in our house. That’s far too many places. (I’m not even getting into why we have this many computers..)

Another example of this multiple-locations-for-things-at-home is that of TVs. Multiple TVs take up space that could be used in other ways. Also, it is impossible to monitor what everyone is watching all at the same time if there are multiple TVs (and/or computers) in multiple rooms in the house. This has some grave implications for the quality of media consumption in families.

In summary, having too many possessions, too complex possessions, and too scattered possessions makes it difficult to maintain them, whether for Book of Mormon armies or for us today. The important lesson we can learn from the above single verse is that it is important to limit our possessions to a number, complexity, and location that will make it easier for us to manage and maintain them.

Some observations on the economy

10 ¶ For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness:
thou hast said, None seeth me.
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee;
and thou hast said in thine heart,
I am, and none else beside me.
11 ¶ Therefore shall evil come upon thee;
thou shalt not know from whence it riseth:
and mischief shall fall upon thee;
thou shalt not be able to put it off:
and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly,
which thou shalt not know.
12 Stand now with thine enchantments,
and with the multitude of thy sorceries,
wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth;
if so be thou shalt be able to profit,
if so be thou mayest prevail.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.
Let now the astrologers,
the stargazers,
the monthly prognosticators, stand up,
and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
(Isaiah 47:10-13)

For some reason this scripture makes me think of the economic crisis.

Verse 11 reminds me a lot of a certain CEO, who insisted at a Congressional hearing that up to five days before, he had no idea that his company was going to go down.

As I have watched the banking industry thrash around and try to escape the credit crisis and I see all the different things they’ve been trying to do, like buy out each other’s debt, and raise more capital, and sell off assets and ask for bailouts, I can’t help but remember how they insisted that debt securitization was safe, because it was diluting the risk, how they advertised home equity loans for “living better”, and the credit default swaps..and so on.

Really, they do not see it coming, because they have made a perversion of debt. So now, they will try to work magic on their balance sheets to make the mess go away, or they will try to prevail upon the government to save them. I read that so many people in Washington and New York have been working 7 days a week for the last month or so trying to find a way out of the mess. They really are “wearied in the multitude of [their] counsels”. And we look to the market forecasters and economists to predict when things are expected to get better.

15 Because ye have said,
We have made a covenant with death,
and with hell are we at agreement;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come unto us:
for we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
a tried stone,
a precious corner stone,
a sure foundation:
he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line,
and righteousness to the plummet:
and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 ¶ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you:
for morning by morning shall it pass over,
by day and by night:
and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
(Isaiah 28:15-19)

I take courage from verse 16 above, which seems to say that before the disaster happens, the Lord laid a safe foundation to build upon. The main foundation, of course, is Christ, and He gives us a safe financial foundation to build on. We have known for many years that safe foundation is 1) paying our tithing 2) getting out of debt 3) living within our means 4) having a year’s supply of food and 5) having an emergency cash reserve. If we believed in these measures and followed them we will not need to panic or be in a hurry or “make haste”, because we will already be prepared.

Verse 15 is significant because it says that the Lord will lay judgment and righteousness to the line and plummet, meaning that He is testing everyone, even the righteous. If we have built on that safe foundation, we will be able to withstand the hail and the overflowing waters (the financial storms), when otherwise we would be swept away and overthrown. And certainly it will be vexing only to hear what is going on.

8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre,
the crowning city,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
9 The Lord of hosts hath purposed it,
to stain the pride of all glory,
and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
(Isaiah 23:8-9)

I think we’re starting to see some humiliation and contempt..

When will the lesson about the perils of greed be learned?

And her merchandise
and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord:
it shall not be treasured nor laid up;
for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord,
to eat sufficiently,
and for durable clothing.
(Isaiah 23:18)

When we have learned how much is really enough and learned to donate our surplus to others in need, then we will begin to climb out of these troubles.

Escaping Materialism with Principles of Stewardship

Our world has a big problem with materialism. You don’t have to look far to find manifestations of it. Debt and waste and pollution and poverty and excess are common problems. We can preach against materialism all we want, but until we learn righteous principles ourselves and teach them to our children, we will continue to have troubles with it.

I went through the scriptures and I found that the Lord has given us these principles of stewardship to follow so that we can overcome materialism.

1) Everything on earth belongs to the Lord and we are all His stewards.

And again, a commandment I give unto you concerning your stewardship which I have appointed unto you.
Behold, all these properties are mine, or else your faith is vain, and ye are found hypocrites, and the covenants which ye have made unto me are broken;
And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards; otherwise ye are no stewards. (D&C 104:54-56)

Yes, we worked for the money to pay for what we have, but who helped us get the job? Who helped us with our education? The Lord is behind it all.

2) We need to be diligent in preserving what we have to be accounted wise stewards.

Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, that thou mayest be a wise steward; for it is the free gift of the Lord thy God, and thou art his steward. (D&C 136:27)

One benefit of this diligence is that we will get to learn how things work and learn how to fix things, which is is a talent in itself.

3) Everyone will have to account to the Lord for the use of their stewardship.

That every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him.
For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures. (D&C 104:12-13)

But let him remember that his stewardship will I require at his hands. (D&C 124:14)

Our tithing settlement interviews should prepare us for the final interview with the Lord when we will be asked to account for how we’ve used our money, property, time, talents, space, and so on.

4) We need to do our part to help the poor and needy in order be accounted just and merciful stewards. The unjust, unwise, unmerciful stewards will have their stewardships taken from them and they will be tormented in hell.

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (D&C 104:18, see also Luke 19:20-24)

The Lord wants us to do our part for the poor, because it is what He would do if He were in our place. As stewards, we are His agents.

5) The just, wise, and merciful stewards will have all things given to them, as well as receiving the stewardships of the unwise.

And behold, he that is faithful shall be made ruler over many things. (D&C 52:13)

For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.
And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit call things. Amen. (D&C 78:21-22)

And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. (Luke 19:24-26)

And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 51:19)

And this shall be my seal and blessing upon you—a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my kingdom.
(D&C 101:61)

6) There is more than enough on earth for everybody, because the Lord prepared it that way, but he also gave us choice of what to do with it.

For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. (D&C 103:17)

This completely contradicts the first thing anyone learns in economics—that there is scarcity. When we have the Lord telling us that there is more than enough for everyone, that means that any scarcity we have on earth has been created by man. I believe that we create scarcity when we require too much.

7) Providing for the saints must be done in the Lord’s way, not the world’s way. The Lord’s way of providing for the saints is to exalt the poor by humbling the rich.

But it must needs be done in mine own away; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low. (D&C 104:16)

The world is always trying to look for ways of exalting the poor without the rich having to sacrifice anything. The world espouses “trickle down economics”, thinking that giving benefits to the rich will eventually benefit the poor. The Lord plainly tells us that is the wrong way to go about it. Those of us who are blessed beyond our needs must sacrifice our surplus.

8) The Lord wants us to be equal in temporal things. If we are grudging about it, the Lord withholds the abundance of the Spirit’s manifestations.

Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld. (D&C 70:14)

This is very interesting. The Lord doesn’t want us to hold back in any way. He wants us to be perfectly willing to do this and He will withhold an abundance of spiritual manifestations from us if we are grudging about equality. How many miracles and spiritual gifts are we missing out on?

9) We need to be careful to discern what is just and needful for our stewardships. No favoritism.

And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— (D&C 82:17, emphasis added)

How do you know if your wants are just? You have to learn to analyze and debate just how much you need something for your stewardship. I’ve found that it is usually best to counsel about it with a close friend (who isn’t afraid to tell you that you don’t need something) or your spouse. Counseling helps you keep from being impulsive and helps you keep focused on meeting your needs.

I also think the “equal claim” term in the above scripture is neat. In the world today, businesses give top priority and attention to serving those who are willing to pay the most. The Lord’s way seems to be that everyone gets equal priority, because we are all His children.

10)Those who consecrate their labor are worthy of some sort of benefit. Consecrate in spiritual things, and you get extra spiritual manifestations.

He who is appointed to administer spiritual things, the same is worthy of his hire, even as those who are appointed to a stewardship to administer in temporal things;
Yea, even more abundantly, which abundance is multiplied unto them through the manifestations of the Spirit. (D&C 70:12-13)

11)Everyone has the responsibility to improve his stewardship to gain more talents, with the surplus to go to the church.

And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church— (D&C 82:18)

12) Everyone also needs to seek the interest of his neighbor and the glory of God, and not just looking out for number one.

Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God. (D&C 82:19)

13) The Lord gives us the privilege of organizing ourselves according to His laws.

And thus I grant unto this people a privilege of organizing themselves according to my laws. (D&C 51:15)

I think this is really neat, because it gives us the opportunity to be proactive. It’s so that we can figure out how to live by correct principles in our own particular circumstances.

Also, the Lord knows that living the Law of Consecration can’t be forced upon us, even if it is a commandment; we have to organize ourselves in such a way that we are prepared to do it and then start doing it on our own.

Some ways that doctrines of stewardship have helped us:

About six months ago, I needed a new Mac laptop to replace my six year old one. My husband and I analyzed together what I should get to replace it. For about two days I was convinced by Steve Job’s reality distortion field that I should get a MacBook Air, but when I tried to justify it to my husband, I eventually saw that it really didn’t fit my needs and a MacBook would do the job just as well at about 2/3 the cost. When I got my new computer, I gave my old one away to someone who needed a computer but couldn't afford to get one.

Another example. When gas prices started really zooming up at the beginning of the summer, we found that we could not afford to drive both our cars. Devon had floated the idea of getting a scooter before, but when gas was cheap it seemed like a scooter would just be a toy. Now something with better gas mileage was a necessity. So we got our motorcycle licenses, and then we put a lot of effort into researching what kind of scooter to get that would best fit our needs. We were able to find one that had the cargo accessories we needed and which didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

I've also written extensively about stewardship in my book here.