Lost diamond, lost coin

Elle's Notebook, Ellesnotebook.blogspot.com, Oct 10, 2012

Last weekend at the grocery store, the cashier ringing up my groceries tried over the phone to get one of her coworkers to help her look for a diamond from her ring that she had lost, since she was on duty and couldn’t look for it herself.   When she got off the phone, I asked her about it and she told me it was her best diamond.  I looked at the line behind me and it seemed like she wouldn’t get to search for her diamond for a while.

As I put my groceries in my car, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, so I went back and offered to help her search, but she didn’t know where in the store she had lost it.  “I’ve been all over the place in the store!  I don’t know where to look!” she said.  The idea flashed into my mind that she could ask for one of those big long broom pads that are slid around the floor to be used to sweep the store and then look through the pile picked up by it.   My idea seemed to give her some hope and she thanked me for it, saying she hadn’t been sure what to do or where to look.

As I drove away, I thought of Jesus’s parable of the lost coin:

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? (Luke 15:8)

I thought about that parable and it seemed to me that we don’t often understand the woman’s anxiety to find her coin.  After all, our coins aren’t worth very much.  But what if we modernized the parable, making it about a woman with 10 diamonds in a ring, who had lost one?  Then we’d understand the sense of purpose she had and the care she took to search out that lost diamond.  A diamond might be a better analogy today for the worth of a soul.  

Can you better imagine yourself wanting to look for lost souls if you think of them as lost diamonds instead lost coins?   I can.

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?

Brigham Young on collecting surplus from the Saints

In a somewhat humorous but sadly true commentary, President Brigham Young recounted his early experiences in attempting to get people to live the law of consecration:

“When the revelation . . . was given in 1838, I was present, and recollect the feelings of the brethren. . . . The brethren wished me to go among the Churches, and find out what surplus property the people had, with which to forward the building of the Temple we were commencing at Far West. I accordingly went from place to place through the country. Before I started, I asked brother Joseph, ‘Who shall be the judge of what is surplus property?’ Said he, ‘Let them be the judges themselves. . . .’

“Then I replied, ‘I will go and ask them for their surplus property;’ and I did so; I found the people said they were willing to do about as they were counselled, but, upon asking them about their surplus property, most of the men who owned land and cattle would say, ‘I have got so many hundred acres of land, and I have got so many boys, and I want each one of them to have eighty acres, therefore this is not surplus property.’ Again, ‘I have got so many girls, and I do not believe I shall be able to give them more than forty acres each.’ ‘Well, you have got two or three hundred acres left.’ ‘Yes, but I have a brother-in-law coming on, and he will depend on me for a living; my wife’s nephew is also coming on, he is poor, and I shall have to furnish him a farm after he arrives here.’ I would go on to the next one, and he would have more land and cattle than he could make use of to advantage. It is a laughable idea, but is nevertheless true, men would tell me they were young and beginning [in] the world, and would say, ‘We have no children, but our prospects are good, and we think we shall have a family of children, and if we do, we want to give them eighty acres of land each; we have no surplus property.’ ‘How many cattle have you?’ ‘So many.’ ‘How many horses, &c?’ ‘So many, but I have made provisions for all these, and I have use for every thing I have got.’

“Some were disposed to do right with their surplus property, and once in a while you would find a man who had a cow which he considered surplus, but generally she was of the class that would kick a person’s hat off, or eyes out. . . . You would once in a while find a man who had a horse that he considered surplus, but at the same time he had the ringbone, was broken-winded, spavined in both legs, and had the pole evil at one end of the neck and a fistula at the other, and both knees sprung.” (In Journal of Discourses, 2:306–7.)

This is a time for self-evaluation. Are we of the kind who are willing to give and do whatever the Lord asks, or would we begin rationalizing about why we could not fully participate?  (Doctrine & Covenants Institute Student Manual, Enrichment L, “The Law of Consecration and Stewardship” )

At first glance, this is a very sad observation on the Saints failure to live the Law of Consecration, but when we look deeper, we see that there are some concerns behind these Saints' judgment about what was surplus and what was not.  They are issues similar to what we deal with today.

 

I notice that Joseph Smith wisely said that the Saints would be the judge themselves as to what was surplus.  That privilege to judge for ourselves continues today, and it is intended that we learn by experience and study.

 

Note that it says the people were willing to do as counseled, but when they were asked about their surplus property, well.. the devil is always in the details.

The fathers were looking ahead and planning out how to provide inheritances for their sons to farm.  Did they consider this a duty (like providing feeding and clothing) to provide for their children’s future, or was this actually conferring undue privilege?  Would the modern equivalent be giving your kid a house for free when they got married, or would the modern equivalent be giving your kid a job at the family business?  Was it an attempt to provide means for their children to make a living when grown up, or was it an attempt to smooth the way too much?  One might ask what the sons and daughters would do if they grew up and were not provided with land inheritances.  Likely they would have to work and save the money for it like everyone else.  Perhaps Brigham Young felt the children should work and save like everyone else.   Meantime, their children would not be given the land for many years in the future, and Brigham Young was trying to find surplus to finance the building of the Far West temple—an immediate need.  So perhaps Brigham Young was making a very subtle point about how people were letting distant future “needs” get in the way of giving for a present church need.

But this still causes us to wonder where saving and planning for future needs fits in the Law of Consecration.  Is it the individual’s duty to save for future needs, or would the surpluses of others be given to fill those needs when need arose?  Or will the need be miraculously filled by the Lord?  Perhaps one of the aspects of consecration that challenges us is how it requires us to trust that the Lord will provide in some way for us when financial emergencies arise.

Brigham Young also observed that some were willing to part with a horse as surplus if it had many physical and behavior faults.  The unspoken message here is his disappointment that people gave of the worst and not the best they had.  It causes me to wonder if sometimes our donations should be of the good things we have instead of our rejects.  On the other hand, looking at it from a practical perspective, it makes perfect sense for a farmer to get rid of a bad horse; likely the horse was more trouble than it was worth, and getting rid of it was a wise decision about their stewardship.  However, to give a bad horse as surplus means the horse would become a problem to another Saint, and does a faithful Saint deserve to be given a bad horse when they need and hope for a good horse to help them with their farm work?  No.   Maybe the horse would be a good gift for a horse doctor, otherwise.. it should have been shot. 

I think there is a lesson here that shows us that if we are giving as surplus things that are so clearly useless to us that they also useless to others as well, we aren’t really consecrating.  What is harder for us to let go of are the things that are still useful and which we think we might still use someday. 

Lessons from parable of the unjust steward

The parable of the unjust steward is one of the more confusing and difficult-to-understand of Jesus’s parables, but when you get right down to the bottom, it can be very helpful to us as a lesson of stewardship.

1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

 5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. (Luke 16:1-19)

In this parable, a steward hears he is going to be called on the carpet for waste and he will probably be thrown out of his job, so he comes up with a strategy to smooth his way out and ingratiate himself with his master’s debtors by forgiving portions of their debts in the hopes that they will find a place for him.

The part of this parable that puzzles us is this—“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.”  It puzzles us because it makes it sound like the master sees his steward cheating him and approves of what he is doing.  In real life this would probably not happen between human master and steward, but I believe it is used here in this parable to illustrate how Heavenly Father’s would react to us as stewards if we were doing the same thing.  If we truly believe that Heavenly Father is our master and we are His stewards, we know that Heavenly Father is not so narrow-minded as to object if we use part of our stewardship to help others, even if we have been wasteful in the rest of our stewardship.  He sees it as wisely providing for our everlasting habitation after mortality.

This is reinforced by this line--"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."  We are to understand that if we use parts of our stewardship to help people, even if they don't really deserve it, when Judgment Day comes, they will speak up for us and be witnesses for our generosity.  Helping them amounts to "laying up treasure in heaven."

“For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (v8) – Jesus said this to point out how any money-grabbing man of the world is smart enough to prepare ahead of time some sort of golden parachute (as we might call it) to use after getting ousted from a job, but the children of the Father’s kingdom don’t seem to realize they can provide golden parachutes for themselves for after mortality through charitable good works. 

So after realizing this, I wondered what was keeping me from living my life in such a way so as to consciously add to my treasure in heaven, and I wondered why I had dismissed in the past the concept of “treasure in heaven” as sort of a pie-in-the-sky idealistic notion is if it had no practicality.   I realized it was because it is hard for me to get a good sense of what kind of treasure and how much I had laid up.   We don’t have a way to really check on how much is there like we can check our bank’s website or our bank statement and see a number. 

But then I thought, is that God’s fault or ours?

It strikes me that while we may keep careful account of our bank deposits and withdrawals, we don’t necessarily keep much account of the good we do for others.  It is said that what we measure and record tends to improve, so perhaps if we wish to know about our treasure in heaven, we should record every good deed we do.  We can do this in the confidence that it indicates the amount of treasure that we are laying up in heaven.   And if it helps us remember the satisfaction we have felt while doing those things, then that’s an earthly benefit we certainly deserve to give ourselves.

It looks like I have some things to write in my journal.  I don’t think it needs to be really detailed.  It can just be a line or two.

Now, I don’t suppose that this laying up treasure in heaven is something we are supposed to do only when we are about to pass over to the other side, like the steward who only started thinking about generosity when he was about to get kicked out of his job.  I get the sense that it is supposed to be something we do all along, splitting our efforts between caring wisely for our stewardship and giving something away, maybe even to those who don’t seem to deserve it.  In the parable, those debtors certainly didn’t deserve clemency; after all, they were in debt!  They got themselves in that predicament!  Thus, some generosity to those who seem to not warrant it is truly a kindness.

Watch the following video "Treasures in Heaven: The John Tanner Story, part 2 of 2" and see if you can keep track of the treasure in heaven that John Tanner laid up.

If this post helped you, please share it on Facebook or Twitter or your other networks.  You never know how many people you can help.

Gospel principles help with de-cluttering

Organizing and de-cluttering is an activity near and dear to my heart. So near, in fact, that one of my dreams is to be a professional organizer. My mom has told me that when I was three, she found me organizing and arranging the toys in the milk crate that they were kept in. During my growing up years, she would periodically enlist my help to restore order to various chaotic areas of the house. My dad would occasionally ask me to organize his collection of CDs.

I’ve learned that there are principles in the scriptures that can be applied to organizing and de-cluttering. I’ve learned that when we look at organizing and de-cluttering from a spiritual perspective, it has much more meaning and can give us more motivation to succeed. For instance, I realized that at bottom, there might not be much difference between clearing clutter and consecrating our surplus. I hope to share with you some scriptures that can help with efforts to de-clutter, so that you realize these efforts are sanctifying.

19 ¶Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19)

This scripture can be extremely challenging, but it also can be extremely liberating. I’m sure you are perfectly aware of that. But I also believe that we have a tendency to interpret it too strictly, which causes us to get frustrated and feel like we can’t live by it, which in turn causes us to find ways of ignoring it. (Thinking it impossible and ignoring it would be exactly what Satan would want us to do.)

One of the things I have realized about this scripture is that Jesus didn’t go into great detail about what “treasures” were. All kinds of objects can be treasures to people. (Heck, I once met a woman who considered an empty Evian water bottle to be one of her treasures.) Because Jesus didn’t explain in hair-spitting detail what a “treasure" is, this leaves it up to us to ponder exactly what in our lives we lay up as treasures on earth. We can ponder the difference between “treasures” and tools that we need. We can ponder whether there is a difference between treasures we lay up and treasures we use. The ball is in our court to ponder and apply the principle according to our individual circumstances.

If you look at this scripture from an organizing and de-cluttering perspective, it makes perfect sense to let go of treasured objects that are just being stored, especially if they really aren’t useful for anything. They just take up space when they are stored. Jesus could see that when we lay up our treasures, we do it because at bottom we want them to last extra long…even forever, if possible. (Sometimes we even let them go completely unused because we don’t want to ruin them.) Jesus noted that when treasured things are stored for long periods, they usually get ruined or stolen. He gave a better solution—lay up treasures in heaven instead (suggesting that the treasures on earth be sold and used to help someone in need) and the reward from the good deed would last throughout eternity.

Ananias and Sapphira: No room for distrust in consecration

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. (Acts 5:1-5)

This is rather an alarming story. It’s alarming nature stems from the fact that the punishment (death) of this fellow Ananias (and later his wife Sapphira) seems to us to be far out of proportion to the sins committed—selfishness, lying to the Holy Ghost, and lying to God. Because of this, it behooves us to carefully study this story to understand exactly why Ananias incurred the wrath of God to such an extent so that we can avoid making the mistakes he made.

It might help us to first make some observations about this story. We must make sure that we see the events with an eye of faith. This will put us in a frame of mind to understand the higher wisdom of God in it.

First, I observe that Peter knew by the Holy Ghost and the spiritual gift of discernment all about what Ananias had done. Peter could have let it pass, but he didn’t. The intelligence Peter received seemed to have come with the conviction that it was his responsibility to confront Ananias with the truth to show him that God knew all about what Ananias was doing and that Ananias couldn’t put one over God or his apostles.

Second, I observe that Peter did not call down any sort of curse on Ananias. He asked Ananias why he had thought of doing it. "[W]hy hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?.... why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?" (Acts 5:3-4)

Peter’s words suggest that the Holy Ghost had been working on Ananias to give the full price of his possessions to the apostles and Satan had been working on him to withhold part, and that Ananias had yielded to the temptation and had rationalized (told rational lies) to justify his actions to himself.

The question that will no doubt come to all of us about Ananias’s deeds is “Sure, it is great to give all your possessions to the church, but what is so bad about deciding to only give half?”

The answer can only come if we understand the nature of the offering Ananias was pretending to make. We are very used to the idea of offerings when you give as much as you feel inclined to. However, this doesn’t seem to be the type Ananias was making. He seems to have been pretending to make an offering of consecration, of the strictest all-or-nothing variety.

Something I realized as I looked closely a few verses in the chapter just before this story is that the early church’s consecration was carried out quite similarly to the method of consecration revealed to Joseph Smith.

Here’s the revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831:

30 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.
31 And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the elders, or high priests, such as he shall appoint or has appointed and set apart for that purpose.
32 And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments, every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family.
33 And again, if there shall be properties in the hands of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their support after this first consecration, which is a residue to be consecrated unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer to those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive according to his wants. (D&C 42:30-33, emphasis added)

Those who desired to consecrate their properties were to lay everything in front of the bishop, who was acting in the stead of God, to receive their offering. The offering was to be a tangible testimony from the saint symbolizing their knowledge that everything belonged to the Lord.

Here’s how it was done in the New Testament:

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common….
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. (Acts 4:32,34-35)

I’m going to rearrange the order of some of those elements to make it more clear. Here’s my ultra-unofficial version:

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own;
34 for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need; so they had all things common, Neither was there any among them that lacked.

These were the circumstances in the church at the time of Ananias’s story. Maybe Ananias felt like he was under a little bit of social pressure to do what others were doing. We’ve already noted that the Holy Ghost had also been working on Ananias in this respect. Perhaps he felt like he was being forced. If he was being forced, any of us can understand why he might try to hold something back for himself.

However, Peter tells Ananias that force had never entered into the case. “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?” (Acts 5:4) To me this suggests that Ananias had had a choice to consecrate or not and that he wouldn’t have been penalized if he had chosen not to. It also suggests that he could have given it in part of he wanted to, as long as he hadn’t pretended to completely give it all. There had to be something about laying it at the apostles’ feet that ceremonially implied that he was giving it all.

Another thing that we have to remember about this act of laying everything at the apostles’ feet is that once all was given, it was the apostles’ turn to give back--“distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” (Acts 4:35). Everyone received their stewardship as though from the hands of God. It would take strong faith to give everything you had and trust that the apostles would be both fair and charitable and counsel with you to make sure you were given everything you needed. It would take great discipline of mind and heart to be content, to refrain from envy.

With this in mind, we begin to see Ananias’s fault. He wanted to look like he was giving it all without actually doing it. And he lay only part of his possessions at the apostles’ feet, expecting that they would distribute a stewardship to him afterwards. He didn’t give it all because he didn’t trust that he would be given enough for his needs, so he was hedging his bets. He doubted the apostles’ generosity because he wasn’t very generous himself. He couldn’t believe in that kind of complete charity. The thing is, consecrating all you have isn’t about trusting to the mercy of man—God’s apostles. It’s about developing inner charity and trusting that God will provide for you if you have sudden needs after having given away that comforting mound of surplus. Saying you are not holding back anything from God when you really are shows distrust in God’s ability to provide, and if you are taking a covenant to consecrate and give it all, that is lying to God.

And we LDS know how high and holy the covenant of consecration is. It stands to reason that there is terrible price to be paid if that covenant is broken or taken “in vain” with feigned words.

You and I do give of all we possess to help build the kingdom. We give time, talents, and so much energy! We pay tithing, which could be seen as a minimum sum that we consecrate. We pay fast offerings, donate to temple funds, perpetual education funds, missionary funds, humanitarian aid funds, and so on. We do all of this, more or less, to greater or lesser degrees, in all varied combinations of focus. We give so much already! I wonder what is stopping us from going the rest of the way?

Nothing is really stopping us from laying our possessions at our bishop’s feet and then receiving our stewardship. Sure, it doesn’t seem to be done today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start to do it. We just have to be willing to give it all if we do.

This story also gets me thinking. It reminds me that someday this practice of consecrating our possessions will begin again in the church. It shows me most emphatically that we cannot and will not be forced to do it. We must choose it of ourselves. It shows me that if it begins in the church and I find myself unwilling to do it myself, I should not allow myself to feel pressured to do it. It has to be a completely voluntary act to give it all and hold nothing back. There is no halfway consecration. It’s all or nothing.

Now, here’s another thought that occurred to me that was rather intriguing. This act of laying it all out on the line reminds me a little of a technique used by some professional organizers to help their clients de-clutter a room. Everything in the room is pulled out and put in the front yard and the driveway and then the client gradually puts back in the room just what they need. Of course, the client hasn’t given it all up in the beginning, and they will still need to work on letting go at the end, but all the same, it shares some elements of consecration.

So this kind of gets me thinking that it might be possible to make up an exercise for ourselves, a thought experiment if you will, to see how we would do at this if we were really to consecrate all we possessed and lay it at the feet of the bishop and his counselors. Are you up for this? Yeah, this might take some time, but the self-knowledge gained will probably make it totally worth it. Get ready to use your imagination.

First, make a list of everything you own, leaving nothing out. (Inventories are useful anyway for insurance purposes in the event your house burns down or something.)

Second, pretend you have consecrated the whole list and are laying it before your bishop. Imagine what it would be like. Imagine yourself signing a deed to transfer it to the ownership of the church. Pretend you are now completely without possessions.

Then pretend that your bishop asks you to tell him what you need as part of your stewardship. Imagine that he asks you to “go shopping” or pick out what you need from a catalogue that happens to be the list that you have just presented to him. Do you know what you need? Circle or highlight everything you have chosen from the list..

Then your bishop asks you if there is anything you need for your stewardship that is NOT listed. What would you say? Can you say exactly what it would be without hesitation?

This might be a good exercise to try for family home evening just to see what would happen. (To some it might be an exciting challenge, while to others it might seem like a test of Abrahamic proportions.) Allow each family member to help decide what they need for their stewardship. (Maybe you will find you have to teach an impromptu lesson about “greed versus unselfishness”.)

This exercise could help prepare us to do the actual deed.

The Deeper Significance of Jewelry in the Scriptures

I was reading on Google Books parts of a scanned copy of a book written by a woman who learned the craft of making jewelry in Egypt and in the process, I stumbled upon a very interesting cultural idea. Jewelry in Egypt functioned not only for decoration and beauty, but also as a display of wealth and social standing. In a society without social security, gold and silver jewelry also acted as a form of life savings for families. Jewelry could be sold more quickly than land in case of need. (Azza Fahmy , Enchanted Jewelry of Egypt, p20)

Now, I know that it is technically not good logic to extrapolate that a practice recorded in relatively modern times is the same as it was in ancient times, nor is it always wise to assume that a practice of one ancient country (Egypt) was the same as another ancient country (Israel). However, in the interest of seeking additional insight from the scriptures, let us assume that these practices haven’t changed much over millennia, and let us also assume that this was one of those practices that was common in the general area of the ancient middle east. Does equating jewelry with “show of wealth” and “life savings for security” increase the depth of our understanding as we read the scriptures?

Let’s try it out on one of those more difficult books of scripture—the Book of Isaiah.

16 ¶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. (Isaiah 3:16-26)

Here it seems Isaiah could be talking about how a proud attitude and a wanton focus brings upon women a process of steady impoverishment or a feeling of insecurity and shame despite having many worldly marks and indications of high status.

1 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:
6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 39:1-6)

Here we get the sense that Hezekiah was certainly displaying his wealth to try to gain status in the eyes of Babylon. The punishment for this was that Babylon would rob him of it.

The burden of the beasts of the south:
into the land of trouble and anguish,
from whence come the young and old lion,
the viper and fiery flying serpent,
they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses,
and their treasures upon the bunches of camels,
to a people that shall not profit them.
(Isaiah 30:6)

Here we get the sense that an entire community was pawning their jewelry to another community to try to get help. And Isaiah is making the prophetic announcement that it wouldn’t do any good.

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
hearken diligently unto me,
and eat ye that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
(Isaiah 55:2)

Usually the jewelry would be bought at the end of the harvest season when the crops had been got in and sold. In the above scripture, Isaiah may have seen this pattern of behavior and wanted to suggest an alternative—seek satisfaction from the word of the Lord.

I will make a man more precious than fine gold;
even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
(Isaiah 13:12)

Perhaps this could have been a suggestion to the women to appreciate their righteous husbands more than the jewelry they were able to buy with the living their husbands made.

I don’t know what it is like in your homes, but in my home, I’m the one who watches over the budget. I can get a little… um.. overzealous from time to time. I suppose this scripture is a good one for me to remember.

Interestingly enough, Isaiah also uses the cultural values attached to jewelry in his prophecies of the gathering of Israel.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold:
all these gather themselves together,
and come to thee.
As I live, saith the Lord,
thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all,
as with an ornament,
and bind them on thee,
as a bride doeth.
(Isaiah 49:18)

This conveys how each convert brought to the church through the gathering increases the beauty, status, and security of the church.

Surely the isles shall wait for me,
and the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring thy sons from far,
their silver and their gold with them,
unto the name of the Lord thy God,
and to the Holy One of Israel,
because he hath glorified thee.
(Isaiah 60:9)

This also seems to imply the faithfulness of the church will grow as the gathered members pay tithing and consecrate themselves, time, talents, and everything else they are blessed with to build up the kingdom of God.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. (Isaiah 54:10-13)

This seems to imply that keeping baptismal and temple covenants and having righteous children gives a beauty, status, and security to our homes comparable to if our houses were made of enormous jewels.

Which reminds me, my mom used to call me her jewel. Hmmm.

And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. (Isaiah 33:6)

Here Isaiah suggests that our stability (meaning security) is found in wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, and that the Lord treasures these qualities in us. This message would be particularly significant to those who trusted in their jewelry for security in emergencies. Today we trust in investments and social security and retirement funds and savings accounts for security in retirement and we trust in insurance for emergencies. To us Isaiah would probably say “the fear of the Lord is his insurance and is savings.”

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
(Isaiah 28:5)

This seems to imply that righteousness gives us status. However, there is danger in that because that may be what leads to annoying “I’m-more-righteous-than-you” attitudes. Rather, remembering that inheriting eternal life in the highest celestial glory will raise us to the highest status, a state of being like God, puts this in its true light.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
(Isaiah 61:10)

Here Isaiah associates the values of beauty, status, and security with salvation and righteousness and gives God credit for it.

These aren’t the only scriptures that can give us additional insights. There is new meaning associated with the words of Christ when he said, to not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven. Additionally, when we read Paul’s admonition to women not to adorn themselves with gold and silver, but instead with good works, we know exactly what he is talking about. In the Book of Mormon when we read of Lehi who left all his gold and silver and precious things in Jerusalem when he left with his family, we understand that they were also leaving the security that those things represented (Who would they have to sell them to if they needed help?) This indicates they were truly placing their trust in the Lord to support them. (It also explains the immense anger Laman and Lemuel had against Nephi when they lost those precious things to Laban in an attempt to buy the brass plates.)
Further, in 4 Nephi, we begin to understand when it says that the Nephites began to lift themselves up in pride and to wear costly apparel and many pearls, seeking to communicate their status. Saving for these treasures ended consecration.

What I take away from all of this that we have a need for beauty, status, and security in our lives, but that gospel values can satisfy those longings through salvation, righteousness, eternal life, righteous children, righteous husbands, depending upon the Lord, seeking knowledge and wisdom, and doing good works and gathering Israel through missionary work.

Image 1 – An Egyptian bride, found at Shazly Nubian forum, http://shazlyasmail.tripod.com/new_page_65.htm

Image 2 – Yemenite bride found at “Insane in my Brain”, http://insaneinmybrain.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/headresses/

Image 3 – The famous CRYSTAL CAVES impression by Robert Strachan, http://www.crystalcaves.com.au/cavepaint.htm

Image 4 - Image of Bedouin jewelry from ARAMCO World Magazine, September-October, 1992 "Berber Silver, Arab Gold" p. 14 - 21 as cited by http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/clothing/Make-Up.html

Where is the safest place for your money?

Recently I was reading about the Nephites getting destroyed. (They get destroyed about every two months or so and it never gets any more fun to read about it. :-( ) I read about how their riches became slippery.

And these Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, did infest the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again.
(Mormon 1:18)

I realized the slipperiness could certainly apply to the stock market right now. People lay up their earnings by investing in the stock market and frequently stocks fluctuate so that the prices go down or up and when the stocks go down, people lose their money; it slips away from them.

Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that only people who laid up their treasures unto the Lord would retain them again. I’ve wondered for a while just what it means to “lay up your treasures unto the Lord”. I’ve wondered whether it means to bury them and then pray over them, or to bury your journals and pray that they come out when they are most needed… But in connection with the slippery stock market, I see now that the only way you can lay up your treasures to the Lord is to give them to the church.

The church is the best treasury ever, because the Lord is the manager. In normal savings banks, you get your money back whenever you call for it. But in the church, your money comes back in whatever form you need it, when you need it, and not until. And it doesn’t necessarily come back from the same entity to whom you gave it. Since the Lord is so powerful, He can disburse it back through any person who has money or means.

I know this is a very unusual idea, but I know it is true, because I’ve tested it.