Wealth, Poverty, and Righteousness

I read these verses this morning (a couple weeks ago now that I've finished writing this post) in my scripture study:

And in these prosperous circumstances were the people of Nephi in the commencement of the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.And they did prosper exceedingly, and they became exceedingly rich; yea, and they did multiply and wax strong in the land.And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying:Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.(Alma 50:17-20)

Surely there is something to the idea that God blesses those who keep His commandments with earthly riches. Is this to say then that being poor implies one is not keeping the commandments? Well of course not!

So then what are we to make of this?

Laws
Well, I think it comes down to the three kinds of laws:

1. Mushy laws
2. Natural laws
3. God's laws

Mushy Laws
Mushy laws are those in which a consequence may be set upon violators; whether or not that consequence is applied, however, is based on external factors. For example, have you ever broken a traffic law, e.g. speeding, not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, etc., and not been caught? In such a case, the consequence of a ticket is set, however its application depends on whether or not you get caught and how well versed you might be at negotiating with a police officer.

Mushy laws are man-made laws. When you break a mushy law, you may or may not receive the affixed consequence.

Natural Laws
Natural laws are those which can not be violated. There is no consequence for violation because violation is not available. For example: gravity. I like very much this quote from Leslie Householder's book, Hidden Treasures:

Gravity is a natural law (a law of nature) that is dependable and constant. You don't have to believe in it; you don't have to like it. In fact, you don't even have to understand it. But you are still subject to it. Everything is subject to it. When we seem to "defy" it, it is because we are using other laws which are dependable and constant as well. (p.14, emphasis original)

If a child believes a cape will make him fly and so climbs out onto his roof to try it out, there may be several possible consequences. If a pool or trampoline are directly adjacent, the consequences may be rather fun and benign. If there are rocks below, then the consequences could be rather malignant. Either way, we would call these consequences natural. Why? Because regardless of ignorance, we are all still subjected to the natural law of gravity. Gravity just is.

To quote Leslie again: "You cannot break a [natural] law; you can only break yourself against it." (p. 15, emphasis original) The people of Nephi did this when they tried to find happiness in wickedness (See Mormon 2:13). And so, we can see that "we can use our knowledge of [natural] laws to our advantage [and] ignorance of the laws leaves us limited in our abilities." (p. 15, ibid)

God's Laws
God's laws are those in which a consequence upon violators is conditional upon their having received and understood the law. Wait, what? The consequences of God's laws are conditional? Is He not the most unconditional, constant, never changing, not-a-respecter-of-persons Being to exist?! Absolutely. And through the grace of His Son, the consequences of spiritual law are conditional on two levels.

The first level of conditionality of God's laws is innocence. If a child tries to fly off the roof and falls to his death (sorry to use such a strong example, but it brings out the point very clearly), then shall He be condemned spiritually for suicide? Of course not! Or what of the one-year old girl who takes a toy from her three-year old brother? Her brother may throw a tantrum and even hurt her, but shall she be charged spiritually with breaking the commandment "Thou shalt not steal?" Such would be ridiculous. Note that in both cases, natural laws still take effect; no allowance is made for ignorance. But the spiritual consequences are swallowed up in Christ.

The second level of conditionality of God's laws is repentance. If I steal a candy bar from a store, then I have violated not only a mushy law, but one of God's laws. While I may or may not have any consequence from the mushy law, I am now ineligible to return to live with God, for "no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, [I] must be cast off forever." (1 Nephi 10:21) And so it would be for eternity were there not a Way prepared whereby I might return to Him. The Way, of course, is Christ. The condition of His cleansing atonement is repentance. Thus, through faith in Christ unto repentance, the spiritual consequences of sin are lifted even while mushy and natural consequences remain.

Some Comments on Laws
A couple thoughts about laws before we bring this back to the initial question. First, it might be better to call mushy laws, or man-made laws, rules. Any family or government needs rules, of course, but "they aren't as dependable as the term 'law' would indicate." (p.15 ibid.)

I believe that God could have established our earthly experience however He pleased, and that He did so in the way that would be most beneficial to His children. I do not know what role God had in the establishment of the natural laws that govern our lives. Did He create them? Or does He simply live in perfect understanding and harmony with them? Are they eternal? Or are they a framework for just our mortal experience? Or some of each? I don't know. However, I do believe that God's law is in perfect harmony with natural law and that the more we choose to live in harmony with His laws, the more we will be living in harmony with natural law. (Also see p. 17, ibid)

One final clarification here: just because natural law and God's law are in perfect harmony does not mean one can not use natural laws for wicked ends, e.g. using the law of gravity to commit murder. What it does mean is that following God's laws will never lead you to try to obtain an end using means contrary to the dictates of natural law.


Examples
So back to the question: what are we to make of the idea that God blesses the righteous with financial, earthly prosperity while both rich and poor can be both righteous and evil?

I think it comes down to obeying natural law. That is, the rich are adhering, knowingly or not, to natural laws regarding the generation and maintenance of wealth, while the poor are not. "And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:21)

Let's look at some scenarios to illustrate this.

Amulon and the Lamanites
In Mosiah 24 we read:

And it came to pass that Amulon did gain favor in the eyes of the king of the Lamanites; therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto him and his brethren that they should be appointed teachers over his people. . .
And [King Laman] appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his people; and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites.
And they were a people friendly one with another; nevertheless they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses; nor did they teach them the words of Abinadi;
But they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write one to another.
And thus the Lamanites began to increase in riches, and began to trade one with another and wax great, and began to be a cunning and a wise people, as to the wisdom of the world, yea, a very cunning people, delighting in all manner of wickedness and plunder, except it were among their own brethren.

Was this a righteous people, blessed by the hand of God with wealth? Um, no. This was a wicked people. However, the principles Amulon taught them about riches were in harmony with natural law. They unified their speech, they taught them to keep records, they taught them to trade and have cunning business models, and they avoided plunder among their own. These kinds of actions and probably more led them to be in sufficient harmony with natural law to build worldly wealth. However, they were using these laws while operating on a competitive plane* rather than a creative one.

* Competitive vs creative is another great topic for another day -- suffice it to say that the natural laws of wealth creation are set, but those operating on a competitive plane may be living in harmony with some while trying to cheat others. This causes them to not prosper as much as they could and, be it sooner or later, their competition will get the best of them. It is simply not an indefinitely sustainable model.

In other words, no one said that worshiping money wouldn't get you money; if you live in harmony with the natural laws that govern it, you are bound to get it. However, if you operate in harmony with God's laws as well, you will be operating on a creative plane by which to generate wealth. This will lead you on a much more sustainable and ultimately successful path.

Alma and the Nephites
I love the following scriptural passage because of how well it demonstrates the different types of laws! This is from Alma chapter 1, and the emphasis below is, of course, my own:

And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.
And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need.
And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.
For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes; persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible.
And it came to pass that by thus exercising the law upon them, every man suffering according to that which he had done, they became more still, and durst not commit any wickedness if it were known; therefore, there was much peace among the people of Nephi until the fifth year of the reign of the judges.

Aren't these verses interesting?!

(In fairness, yes, there were probably many among them who were not of the church and yet did not commit many of these sins mentioned, but keeping with the tone of the verses, I will compare only the two groups.)

Mushy Laws - The man-made laws here were mushy ones. Notice toward the end how "the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible." Why only as possible? Because man-made laws are enforced by men, and men don't know everything. Note that the wicked would still try to break the law if they could get away with it! They "durst not commit any wickedness if it were known." Wickedness or righteousness is a matter of the heart; actions simply reflect the heart's disposition.

Natural Laws - The exceeding riches of church members were attributed to the steadiness of the church. Discussing what "steadiness of the church" means is a worthy discussion for another time. In this case, I would only point out that said steadiness was a natural consequence of natural law.

We are also offered a contrast of this natural law living with those who "did indulge themselves," who "[wore] costly apparel," and were "lifted up in. . .pride." They stole and murdered, and all this led them to be less wealthy than members of the church.

Now here's what I love about this as well! They did not here say that the wicked were not rich. Rather only that those of the church did "become far more wealthy than those who did not." The members of the church were operating on a creative plane while those who were not were operating on a competitive plane. They were living in harmony with some natural laws, but trying to subvert others, and it wasn't working for them.

God's Laws - God's laws are not drawn out here specifically like the others. However, the verses do not seem to hide in any way that the actions of those outside the church were opposed to God's laws and the actions of those within the church were aligned with God's laws. What I see illustrated here is how God's laws are aligned with natural law.

Victor Frankl
What the what?! Victor Frankl? Where does he come in to this?

Sometimes our abilities to live certain laws, or at the very least the degree to which we can live them, can be limited due to the actions of other men. Victor Frankl did not have much liberty while a prisoner in a concentration camp. He wasn't exactly in a position to have great financial means, i.e. he was restricted from leveraging the natural laws that would generate wealth. He may have desired to use them, but the liberty to do so was stripped from him.

Nonetheless, this quote, perhaps the most oft-quoted of his, is relevant and insightful here:

The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
(Man's Search for Meaning, p.65-66)

We can see from these examples that, while their liberty was nearly completely suppressed, natural law and agency was still at play. Yes, our circumstances may indeed limit the extent we can leverage our knowledge of natural law, but we can still live according to the highest application of natural laws available to us; we can still have God's laws in our hearts.


Obtaining Knowledge
Jacob taught, "after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them." Seeking them, in my opinion, implies gaining an understanding of and an ability to apply the natural laws that govern such riches.

I do not believe that learning and understanding all natural laws while here on earth are requisite for salvation. At the same time, I do believe it is important and potentially relevant to our salvation that we learn as much as we can. Joseph Smith Jr. taught:

A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge. . . .
Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

Is seeking understanding regarding the laws of wealth creation worth our time? I believe so, at least for me. Does applying them make me righteous? Well no, not on their own. By living in increased harmony with some few natural laws my actions may be in greater harmony with God's law, but does that make me more righteous? Not on its own -- remember the example above about Amulon and his people? Righteousness is a matter of the heart.


Conclusion
So what is the correlation between righteousness and wealth? Are the poor wicked? Are the rich righteous? Certainly no such blanket statement could be applied!

Essentially, there are four potential black and white combinations here (and life isn't this black and white, but the contrast provides clarity in explanation):

1. One may have a heart set upon idols while living in ignorance of and/or out of harmony with the natural laws of wealth creation.
2. One may have developed a righteous heart while living in ignorance of and/or out of harmony with the natural laws of wealth creation.
3. One may have a heart set upon idols while understanding and living in harmony with the natural laws of wealth creation.
4. One may have developed a righteous heart while understanding and living in harmony with the natural laws of wealth creation.

I am aware of no commandment wherein we are commanded to seek riches; it is always placed as a permissible pursuit after (both in chronological and priority order) seeking the kingdom of God. This is not to say that there are no laws that God has put forth about wealth! The law of tithing is one and it's not lonely! I believe that God would have us learn the laws of stewardship and wealth creation just as He would have us learn a great many things.

Is it folly, then, to express gratitude to Him in the form of attributing riches to Divine blessing? Again, I believe it's a matter of heart; the same action can be performed with prideful or humble heart. Is it truly done not as a brag of greater worthiness nor a condemnation of those with less, but as an expression of simple, genuine gratitude? Perhaps then it is recognizing, as Elder Holland quoted: "when I see the want among so many, I do know that 'there but for the grace of God go I.'"

UPDATE 10-Jan-2015:
I realized I left out something important that I would like to clarify.

I do not wish to give the impression here that all earthly wealth is gained by "the management of the creature." (Alma 30:17) I believe God can and does intercede on behalf of righteous people in harmony with the natural laws they live, and maybe not in ways obvious to direct observation.

Consider Helaman 12:1-2 (emphasis added):

...We can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

Yea,. . .he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people;"

I perceive these emphasized portions as action statements. God is intervening here. When our hearts are righteous, He will prosper us as much as possible given the natural laws we abide -- if there were no fields or flocks to increase, God would not have increased them. I don't know if any one person there might have pointed and said, "see, that was God's doing -- it wouldn't have turned out that way if He hadn't intervened," yet each would do well to express gratitude for the blessings.

Sometimes God may have other purposes, e.g. a frost and lost crop forced Joseph Smith Sr.'s family to move further west, eventually putting them near the Hill Cumorah.

We are best served when:
1) We seek first His kingdom (a righteous heart)
2) We trust and express our gratitude to Him
3) We strive to understand and live according to natural and divine law (and mushy one's too -- you know, the whole 12th article of faith thing).

Nothingness, Infinite Worth, Equality, and more

Wow, this post turned out long and kind of rambly. I've not re-read it yet to fix typos, make sentences more clear, fix logical fallacies, and check that I actually agree with everything I wrote. When I do, I'll fix this.

Aaron was a missionary amongst a very hardened people. When teaching this people of Christ, one man challenged him saying:  "Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not this people as good as thy people?" (Alma 21:5)

Letting this challenger represent the people as a whole, this is a people that believes in God while believing that whatever they do doesn't matter because "God will save all men." (Alma 21:6)

I wonder what they were using, if anything, for scripture. At any rate, the scriptures refute this idea plentifully as the core, fallible message of any anti-Christ.

What stood out to me here, though, is the belief that we are all entitled to the exact same blessings from God no matter our thoughts, actions, or intents. It is a logically sound conclusion given the false premise.

Our world today is not lacking in entitlement mentality. I think much of it stems from this same sense of "I'm just as good if not better than <person-who-has-what-I-covet>, why shouldn't I get <that-which-I-covet>."

I know I'm guilty of this regularly. If you've not read The Anatomy of Peace, then might I recommend it -- it'll tell you all about the how and why of my entitlements. Essentially it comes down to not doing what I feel like I ought to -- not honoring my impressions, intuitions, and conscience. When I disregard such, I then want all the wonderful results that honoring myself could have brought without having to do the work for it. I'm annoyed that I should have to do such a task, especially considering how much I've already done. I shouldn't have to do anymore -- I'm good enough. I justify all night long about why I'm good enough, nay, better than enough, even overly-deserving of my desired result! Most certainly I'm more deserving than my neighbor!! I've done sufficient, I tell myself, and I'm quick to find people who will be my allies, people who will defend my smallness by saying "yeah, you've done plenty, you deserve it!"

Oh why do we determine our self worth on what we can see alone?! We are all of infinite and equal worth!! We are all God's children! Our circumstances, actions and the consequences of these are not evidence of our worth!

The circumstances of the human race vary vastly. Elder Holland recently stated "I do not know all the reasons why the circumstances of birth, health, education, and economic opportunities vary so widely here in mortality, but when I see the want among so many, I do know that 'there but for the grace of God go I.'" Yes, "all men are created equal," an eternal truth written in the Declaration of Independence, but this does not mean all are born into the same circumstances or with equally good health, etc.

There is no room to boast of ourselves when we see with this perspective. It is as though we are looking through a slightly clearer spot as we "see through a glass, darkly," and we recognize that we are nothing.

Yes, we are nothing. We have no power over the circumstances into which we were born nor the earthly heritage we've been given. Our life on earth is but a brief sojourn. Nothing but warped philosophies of man and devil set us apart from any other spiritual sibling, though we adopt many such philosophies due to the circumstances and heritage to which we were born.

"O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth!
"For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God!"
(Helaman 12:7-8 exclamation marks added)

God can sever us from his presence eternally by the mere word of His mouth. Of what have we to boast?! Nothing!

And by understanding that we are nothing with sufficient depth that it leads to feeling -- not a feeling of depression, but of gratitude and love -- we are then aligned, we are in harmony, with the truth that we are each and every one of us of infinite worth. There is no room for hate or discord, oppression or fear.

So what of our mortal plight wherein "circumstances of birth, health, education, and economic opportunities vary so widely?"

I shall not pretend to profess knowledge of such reasons, though I do profess an opinion I will share. (That's kind of what this blog is all about, eh? Exploring my own opinions and musings.) However, it is with confidence that I state it is in no way dependent on our individual worth, for in this we are all equal.

It seems to me that the causal condition for these variances is that man forgets these two aforementioned principles:

1. We are all nothing
2. We are all of infinite worth

And in forgetting them, man grows in pride and sin, and ceases to see others as people of equal worth. Man ceases to honor the individual sovereignty and humanity of each and every other human being. In other words, the inequality of the human race is caused by sin.

"For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.
"It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin." (D&C 49:19-20)

These are intriguing verses to me. It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another? What does this mean? Well, that may be for another time and another post. This one is already pretty long and I haven't even broached the initial pondering yet!

So let's take this all back to that Amalekite (I think I'll call him Amale) who challenged Aaron. Said he: "Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not this people as good as thy people?"

Well, are both peoples equally good? After all, they are both part of the human race, and we are all equally nothing and we are all of equally infinite worth. In fact "It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another!" So Amale has a point, right?

Well, not really. You see Amale, our equal worth is not what determines consequences on this earth, or anywhere else really. Consequences are determined by thoughts and actions. Sure, each individual in both groups of people are of equal worth, but they have not made the same choices, and thus they face different consequences.

In fact, Amale, even though you believe that "God will save all men," it is clear throughout scripture that this simply is not True. You have used that faulty premise thence to essentially justify any behavior while being entitled to any and every blessing anyone else is. Behavior doesn't matter, thoughts don't matter, intents of the heart don't matter, we're all just entitled.

So when you ask Aaron "How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people?" (Alma 21:6), well, you've kind of made it obvious already. Heavens, from your definition, what does righteous even mean?! Is it possible to be unrighteous with your belief system? It certainly doesn't seem like it!

Part of the purpose of our existence on this earth is to learn through experience. If there were not unequal consequences of choice, what learning could such experience provide? It could not.

So coming back to our day, "it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin." This is certainly accurate. And then again, perhaps the converse also holds true? "The world lieth in sin, wherefore, a man possesses that which is above another, which is not given."

In an effort of clarity, I am not here seeking to preach that "poor people must be sinners." Actually no, or rather yes. I mean, they are sinners, because we're all sinners, but being poor does not make one a sinner any more than does being rich. Just as a rich person will be exposed to temptations that a poor person will not, so a poor person will be exposed to temptations that a rich person will not. It is our actions, not our circumstances, that determine individual righteousness.

Righteousness leads to an equality of substance* based in abundance. This is what we see in 4 Nephi. Wickedness leads to an inequality of substance based in scarcity. While I don't know my history well enough to point out some clear examples, the book 1984 comes to mind. Interestingly though, in 1984, there was an equality of poverty among the masses.

Circumstances are simply consequences. The circumstances into which we are born are the consequences of the choices of thousands who have gone before. That recipe is then mixed with the choices of others as well as our own to lead us to our circumstances today.

The only choices we can righteously control are our own. Thus, the only way to seek an equality of abundant substance is to seek that abundance ourselves, and also seek to help others who seek the same.

Always though, we must be honoring individual sovereignty. There is no room for coercion in righteousness. "Power or influence can [and] ought to be maintained. . .only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile." (D&C 121:41-42)


* A friend recently posted this: substance and understanding. sub [under] stance [stand]. I thought it was an interesting relationship to consider, particularly in the above context.

Accumulation vs Cashflow in Housework... Say What?!

Last night my wife and I had a very interesting conversation. Before I dive in, however, it would be most helpful to offer a little context.

The work I do in the financial sector includes focusing on one big mindset shift: accumulation to cash flow. We in America have been cultivated to have an accumulation mindset. For example: save money in a 401k for 40 years so you can have a big pile of money when you retire and you can live off the interest!

If you're willing, do a little thought experiment with me that I learned from Chris Miles. Close your eyes... eh, actually, no, that won't work. :) Pretend you're closing your eyes! Think about how much you make each month -- what is your monthly take home income? Envision that for a moment. Doing some quick, doesn't-need-to-be-exact mental math, divide it by two and how much is that?

Imagine now, that that amount, half your income, was taken away. For whatever purpose, you were forced to work part time or who knows... but you now have only half your income. How do you feel? What is coming up for you?

Okay, no need to dwell there very long! Let's come back to what you make currently. Take a breath... whew! Now consider this -- that amount that is half your income, imagine that amount being added again to what you currently make. So if you currently make 3,000 per month, imagine if you were making 4,500 a month. How do you feel? What is coming up for you?

Notice that I never said "you have a million dollars in the bank!" The amount of money you have accumulated  matters little*. It's because cash flow is more important than accumulation. If that cash flow is passive, it can be duly called retirement.

*Please note, I'm not saying that having some savings is bad; putting money aside for a rainy day is a crucial principle of good financial management. What I'm saying is that cash flow is a similarly crucial principle that is too often overlooked, as I will explain next.

There are significant flaws in our "save in a 401k for 40 years" system as most any baby boomer will tell you. If you do the numbers, especially if you include inflation in the works, you will have to take a significant financial hit when you're ready to retire. In 2010, two out of three 65 year olds were relying on Social Security for half their income! Two Thirds!! And what's worse, one third of 65 year olds were relying on it for 90% of their income! I call this a retirement into poverty. ...it's that or Walmart! (Note: these stats are from the 2010 census.)

Now imagine if, instead of a large sum of cash that you hope you don't outlive, you had a passive income of seven or eight thousand dollars coming in each month like clock work. See a difference?

We seem to think that accumulation creates cash flow which allows us to live the life we want. In reality, that's backwards. By focusing on developing ourselves and building our cash flow, be it through business and/or investments, accumulation becomes the natural side effect.

Okay, great... so what on earth does this have to do with housework???

Well, Bonnie was sharing with me last night about how she's been making changes in her mindset about housework. It's been a source of constant pain -- no matter what she cleans, it is quickly undone. When a room does get clean, she sometime goes all Nazi on anyone who tries to set one thing down in it! You can imagine how well that works having 5 kids (4 littles and one... husband).

She often feels frustrated because the house will never get completely clean all at the same moment ever. And if by some miracle it does, then the moment kids wake up, it's all over. It just won't last.

She's been working hard on improving her mindset about these things because, quite frankly, that's not a fun world to live in! She doesn't want it! Who would?!

In doing so, she's becoming more and more healthy about housecleaning and lately it's actually not been getting as dirty. She's doing quite an impressive job. As she was telling me about this last night, the relationship with my comments above occurred to me. I told her: "Bonnie, it seems like with housecleaning, you've been having an accumulation mindset rather than a cash flow mindset."

She made a face, it's true, but not one of "what the what?" It was more one of "Oooh, interesting!" We explored it a little more and here's what that basically means.

She was trying to get the house all, 100%, completely clean, all at the same moment. Why? For the sake of calling it done! Well, that's a bit like accumulation -- you want to hit some magic number so you can be done working! Money doesn't quite work like that as mentioned above. Neither does housework.

It's not an issue of accumulation, it's an issue of flow. In a family of six and growing (no, that's not an announcement), it is unrealistic to think you can stop entropy from happening! However, what Bonnie realized is that, the shorter the period between cleaning a given room, the less work it is to clean. Again, it's an issue of flow.

As we improve our ability to create an organized and deliberate flow of house cleaning, the cleaner the house will be overall, and it doesn't matter if the whole house is clean or not, because that's not the goal anyway. The goal is a better flow.

The best flow, of course, is for everyone to continually pick up after him/her-self. That's a great ideal, but sometimes it's tricky to be good at as adults, let alone our children! Still, little by little we can at least improve.

Thinking of housecleaning from a perspective of flow rather than accumulation is much, much more kind to our mental health, just as thinking of retirement from a perspective of passive cash flow is much more kind to our financial health.

Rest Comes from Labor

"Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls." (Alma 37:34)

Rest for a soul comes from labor; idleness leads to a restless soul. Can a soul find comfort in idleness? It appears not. Even if considerably defeated by poor habit, a soul will wish or yearn for something different.

I believe this is because we are spirit children of God. God is a creator and our spiritual DNA, so to speak, is wired to create as well. Idleness is a poison to our souls.

This says nothing ill about physical, mental, or spiritual rest and rejuvenation. If our spirit, mind and heart is seeking to live to our greatest potential, to live for a purpose greater than ourselves, then rest and rejuvenation will be a very fulfilling part of our journey.

When we obtain our errand of the Lord, we are driven by our faith in Him to overcome the temptations of idleness, distraction, and discouragement that inevitably come.

In the words of  David O. McKay "Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best." What is yours? In what good works will you engage to find rest?

Strict Commandments

"O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God." (Alma 37:13)

Upon reading this scripture I wondered, what does strict actually mean? I have a sense of what it means to me, but putting it in words isn't obvious for me and, what about in Joseph Smith's time, circa 1828? What did it mean then?

Well it turns out there are a few definitions, some of which I expected, and some that reached a little beyond that expectation.

Some of the definitions included:

• Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules;
• Confined; limited; not with latitude;

These are largely what I thought. So the commandments of God are not wishy washy or ambiguous, they are set forth limited and concise.

Another definition included "Rigorous; not mild or indulgent." Rigorous? Not what I would have thought with strict, so I looked up Rigorous which included these definitions:

• Allowing no abatement or mitigation;
• Without abatement or relaxation;
• Scrupulously accurate;

Indeed, the commandments of God are rigorous. They do not go away when we want to have fun. In the words of Jeffrey R. Holland:
"You never ‘check your religion at the door.’ Not ever. My young friends, that kind of discipleship cannot be—it is not discipleship at all.
...
"My young brothers and sisters, this Church can never “dumb down” its doctrine in response to social goodwill or political expediency or any other reason. It is only the high ground of revealed truth that gives us any footing on which to lift another who may feel troubled or forsaken."

There is no moment in time in which the commandments suddenly are unimportant. No, they continue without abatement, mitigation, or relaxation!

They are scrupulously accurate! That is, they are designed so perfectly that obeying them will lead us toward Him and to becoming as He is. He lives His commandments and offers them to us as His secrets for becoming like Him!

People pay thousands of dollars, and indeed I have paid thousands of dollars, for mentorship and training to help me have, do, and be more of what I want. God's laws are free! The gospel has no financial cost!

"Wherefore, [the Lord God] commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
"Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
"Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
"Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance."
(2 Nephi 26:24-27)

How grateful I am for strict commandments! Yes, I fall short of them ALL. THE. TIME. Because I am not yet strict; I am not yet rigorous; I am not yet unconditional, and yet the commandments are all those things. I am grateful for these strict commandments because they help me see clearly! If they were not strict, how confused would I be?! How difficult would it be to know how I ought to act and be?!

And oh how grateful I am for repentance! Without the chance of repentance through the atonement of Christ, I would be stuck seeing how I fall short and never able to change it. No hope of improvement, no hope of forgiveness, no hope of life. What a blessing repentance is! What an immeasurable gift is the atonement!

Harmony Between Natural Law and Divine Mandates

"Inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land." How many times is this quoted  in the Book of Mormon? I don't know, but it's plenty more than two. And given the various contexts it is stated in, this definitely includes (but is not at all limited to) economic prosperity.

Interestingly, it also just happens that:
"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
"And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." D&C 130:20-21

Could it be that keeping the commandments of God harmonizes with the natural laws of prosperity? That as we learn and follow said laws that bring us prosperity, we will be more greatly enabled to keep God's commandments?

I believe yes. I'm also very tired, so that's about all I'm writing on the topic. :)

Whatsoever Ye Do

A scripture I have come to love is found in Colossians 3:23: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." In Spanish it says "hacedlo de corazón", that is "do it from your heart."

I think about this verse often; what does it mean to "do [something] heartily, as to the Lord?" And does it really mean we do everything we do that way?

Well, I believe "[doing something] heartily, as to the Lord," means you are inspired by a cause, a.k.a a why, that 1) resonates deeply in your heart and 2) is directly associated with building the kingdom of God.

This doesn't mean an individual task must resonate deeply in our heart to be worth doing. To hope that every necessary task we undertake will do so may be unrealistic; I say may because it seems unrealistic to me currently, but perhaps we can reach such a place -- I don't know. At any rate, what it does mean is that the cause for which you are doing the task resonates deeply in your heart.

That same principle applies to building the kingdom of God. Sometimes tasks we know are good and important certainly don't feel like building the kingdom of God. Changing a poopy blow-out comes to mind! And yet the tasks of maintaining and running a positive family are some of the most important tasks we can do in building His kingdom.

I bring this all up because I recently read these verses:
"Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.
"And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God;"
(Alma 43:45-46)

The Nephites were at war. We read that Moroni was not a blood-thirsty man; the task of war was woeful and undesirable. The cause, however, ran deep.

On our path through life we will reach roadblocks. We will have tests and trials; we will run into traps. As we do, remembering our cause will be the powerful boost we need to endure and overcome. This is why our why must both resonate deeply with us and be directly associated with building God's kingdom.

"When we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help" said President Monson. But to be on the Lord's errand, we must first obtain His blessing.

And so, with a Heaven endorsed cause resonating deeply in our hearts, we can perform every task "heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Our focus becomes that divine cause, not the challenging task. The approval or disapproval of men becomes irrelevant, for we "lift up [our] eyes" toward the kingdom of God.

This is not to say that such a cause may not benefit us as well! After all, President Joseph F. Smith said "that a religion which has not the power to save people temporally and make them prosperous and happy here, cannot be depended upon to save them spiritually, to exalt them in the life to come." (As quoted by Joseph B. Wirthlin.)

All of the resources necessary for us to provide for ourselves and our families, as well as to perform our mission or errand from Heaven, will be provided to us. There may be are tests, trials, and traps along the way, and not insignificant ones! We are talking about a life mission here! They are hard, they are mean, they chew us up! They test our metal and our character. Yet is this not what 1 Nephi 3:7, 1 Nephi 4:6, and 2 Nephi 2:11 are all about?

Thomas Payne illustrates a principle that is applicable here: "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." While our context may be different, does the same principle not apply?

Moroni's people were given the boost they needed as they were inspired to "lift up [their] eyes," to refocus on their cause and thus on their reliance on God.

"When the men of Moroni saw the fierceness and the anger of the Lamanites, they were about to shrink and flee from them. And Moroni, perceiving their intent, sent forth and inspired their hearts with these thoughts—yea, the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage.
"And it came to pass that they turned upon the Lamanites, and they cried with one voice unto the Lord their God, for their liberty and their freedom from bondage.
"And they began to stand against the Lamanites with power;"
(Alma 43:48-50)

Thanks to the powerful cause with which they were inspired, the Nephites turned to their task with the definiteness of purpose spoken of by Napolean Hill. They were thence aided by God and their success was assured.

"In that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them; and they fled even to the waters of Sidon.
...
"Therefore the armies of Moroni encircled them about, yea, even on both sides of the river, for behold, on the east were the men of Lehi.
"[and the Lamanites] were struck with terror."
(Alma 43:50, 52, 53)

The Nephites were "three feet from gold" when they were "about to shrink and flee." In that moment so nigh unto victory and so close to giving up, they were able to perform their task "heartily, as to the Lord." How? By clinging with definiteness of purpose to their cause and their God. I do not believe this would have been possible had their cause not resonated deeply within them or had they doubted they were on the errand of God.

I've heard it said, "if your why doesn't make you cry, it's not strong enough." So what is your cause? What is your dream? What is your quest?

Buddha has been oft quoted as saying "Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it." In David O McKay's words, "Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best." And as President Monson just quoted Thomas Carlyle, "the man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder."

I invite you to seek out a cause to which you can give your whole heart and soul -- one that can be a rudder for your life's work. And by the way, your cause is not yours alone when you invite God to be at the helm. Seek Heaven's help to find it, and thence "whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."

Five Principles to Create Oneness in Marriage

This is taken from my notes and experience at the Matermind Marriage Symposium led by Kris & Kalenn Krohn on September 24th, 2014. UPDATE: Part of it is now publicly available on youtube.

There are a lot of articles out there "4 ways to enhance your marriage" or "6 daily tasks to make a bullet-proof marriage" or on and on. Every one I've read has, to me, been not much more than some person's idea of a to-do list, and it's never really resonated with me.

These principles, however, did resonate with me. Perhaps this is because they are principles and not to-dos.

Before I jump in to what they are, these principles are all about becoming an unconditional spouse. Now what might that mean? Be an unconditional spouse? And beyond that, what might it mean to be an unconditional being?

Think on that one for a moment. I have some thoughts and ideas, but your own impressions are probably more insightful for you than mine.

To me, being unconditional means honoring your sense of doing what's right, seeing people as people, and resisting any urge to make your way of being conditional on the actions or way of being of another. By this, I don't mean that you don't respond to what others do, but that you honor their individual sovereignty while unconditionally being in charge of your own as well.

So being an unconditional spouse? It means true commitment. Commitment to showing up 100% even when your spouse does not. It means being kind and loving not just in action, but in thought and soul -- all the way through -- even when your spouse isn't. It means living the following five principles:

1) Your Spouse is Priority #1
2) No Strings Attached
3) Be the Change You Wish to See
4) Accountability
5) End the War on Being Right

1. Your Spouse is Priority #1
Now, you can argue that God is #1 and I would sympathize, but does calling your spouse priority #1 have to be in conflict with that? Are they necessarily mutually exclusive? I don't know that they are, so let's not get hung up on that.

Make your spouse's needs, wants, and dreams your #1 priority. How do you do this? I don't know yet, but I can usually tell when I'm not doing it! When you feel upset with your spouse, what are you prioritizing above your spouse?

2. No Strings Attached
Be willing to give to your spouse without any expectation of receiving something in return. This doesn't mean just once -- we're talking about being unconditional here! It means over and over again.

This is more a way of being than a behavior. If you try to simply force yourself to do this as a behavior, you will find that day after day and with each act, you add drop upon drop of resentment poison to your connection. Do not try to fool yourself here. No, it's not a behavior, it's a shift in your way of being.

If it seems too monumental to take on, try it for a week, or maybe even just a day or two if that's what you need. Persuade yourself that "for this next week, I am going to give to my spouse and I promise I will never seek anything in return for everything I do this week. It's just free." If you believe you can do that, try it! If you need to shorten it, shorten it! But try it, and build up your ability to do it for longer and longer stretches!

3. Be the Change You Wish to See
Can you change your spouse? Do you have that ability? Can your spouse change you? Does s/he have that ability? No, no, no, and no.

We can only control ourselves. When we try to change or put shoulds on our spouse, we are not acting in integrity with the natural law that all men are agents unto themselves. Please note that natural laws are not something you can break -- you can only break yourself against them! I can not change my spouse -- I make invitations and honor his/her choice.

If you want something to be different, look in the mirror and see how you can change. Be the captain of your own ship and only your own ship. Don't try to drive someone else's ship and leave your own captain-less.

If you want something of your spouse you can certainly discuss it with him/her, but if your spouse isn't willing or doesn't want to, see how you can meet that need for yourself. Your spouse is not in charge of your happiness -- that would be telling your spouse to captain your own ship! We are seeking to be unconditional here! The goal is to learn to each captain your own ship such that you are able to navigate them side by side without crashing!

4. Accountability
I never have permission to be upset with my spouse. This statement may rub you the wrong way, but why would I say it?

Well let's think back to our 0th anniversary, the day we got married. What did I do? I said yes! I said I do! I'm the one that married him/her! And I said yes to everything! I said yes to the things I knew, and I said yes to the things I didn't know! I even said yes to the things I didn't know I didn't know!

To say "I didn't agree to that" is simply false and to say "I didn't know I was agreeing to that" is just the point! Of course you didn't know everything you were agreeing to -- you were agreeing to things you didn't fully know at the time.

Marriage is not a contract, it's a covenant. Contracts are deals where each person's portion put together adds up to 100%. It has clauses about how if a certain part of the agreement isn't met then someone is necessarily at fault and then exit clauses are in place. That's not what marriage is about! Marriage is a covenant. Both bring their 100% to the table! And when one doesn't, the other doesn't have a contract that says "oh, well, you didn't bring your 100% today so I'm not either." No! Being an unconditional spouse means you bring 100% regardless of how your spouse shows up! And you don't attach any strings to that either! (See principle #2.)

Are we only willing to take accountability for marrying our spouse when s/he is doing what we want? That conditional statement does not lead us to being an unconditional spouse! It says "I only want to be married to you when you are doing what I want." That doesn't sound like a great relationship to me -- certainly not creating oneness in marriage!

5. End the War on Being Right
Connection, love, and respect are more important than being right.

Essentially this is simply a specific instance of making your spouse your #1 priority. That is, don't make being right a higher priority than your spouse.

I may be right about something in every possible way, but in a win-lose scenario, we both lose.


A Couple Final Thoughts
First, I hope to be clear -- in all of this, does this mean there are no boundaries? That my spouse can do whatever s/he wants, walk all over me if s/he chooses, and I just take it? No, I certainly don't believe so. That wouldn't be showing up 100% for your spouse! However, remember that boundaries are rules of action for yourself. You do not set rules of action for your spouse!

Second, I want to share an insight I had at this symposium that I still don't fully grasp, but I feel like it's coming. I've wondered for some time what it means to want or need something. Whenever I say "I need," I try to always make that a conditional statement. If the statement doesn't become conditional, then I become conditional!

For example, when I say "I need some socks," then I will add "in order to be comfortable wearing my shoes." Now this is a simple example, but if I only say "I need some socks," then what does this mean about me? Really? I need them? Am I somehow incomplete as a human being without them? Well of course not!

Now I realize that in a statement like that about socks, the conditional is somewhat implied: it would be uncomfortable in shoes without them, it would look weird, my feet might be cold, etc. But being deliberate about it has been, for me, helpful and clarifying.

So what about needing my spouse? Do I need my spouse? I brought up this question in the symposium and Kris said "this may not work for you, but I choose to need my spouse." While I have some pondering to do about this, I like the sentiment right off.

It is a natural law that greater happiness is available in a marriage relationship than without one, yet who would ever consider marriage a guarantee for happiness?! The trick is that while greater happiness can be found in such a relationship, my spouse is not responsible for my happiness. S/he does not make me happy. S/he can assist and invite me to be happy but it is ultimately my choice; the same goes with being unhappy!

I very much enjoyed this symposium! It has given me much food for thought! I thank Kris & Kalenn for sharing these things and also thank those couples that participated. It was an inspiring experience!

What other principles have you found in marriage that help you be an unconditional spouse?

Equality

I've often been in conversations discussing equality vs inequality and differentiating equality from the same. I came across a verse of scripture that spoke of inequality and it piqued my interest to learn more about what the scriptures have to say about it.

Here are some basic questions that have come to mind:

1. What is equality / inequality? What is it not?
2. In which different contexts can we apply this definition ( such as liberty, financial, religion, morality, etc.) and how is equality applied to each? What does it look like in each?
3. Is  inequality fortunate, unfortunate, or neither?
4. Why does inequality exist?
5. Assuming equality is a worthy goal, how would God have us work toward / create equality?

And after looking up all of these scriptures... I don't really feel like diving in for the answers and thought process of it all. So I'll just post what I have as a reference for some other time.


Mosiah 27:3 (26:38, 27:3-5)
"And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God."
...
"And there was a strict command throughout all the churches that there should be no persecutions among them, that there should be an equality among all men;
"That they should let no pride nor haughtiness disturb their peace; that every man should esteem his neighbor as himself, laboring with their own hands for their support.
"Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want;"

2 Cor 8:13-14
"For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
"But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be an equality."

Supporting Quote to go find
Brigham Young's quote about sharing one's excesses so all may have an abundance in journal of discourses.

Mosiah 18:21,27-29
"And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.
...
"And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.
"And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul.
"And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants."

Mosiah 29:32
"And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike. . ."

Alma 4:12, 15 (9-15, 19)
"And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God.
"And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.
"And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people.
"Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.
"Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy;
"Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.
"And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him."
...
"And. . .he did. . .go forth among his people. . .that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them."

Alma 16:16 (15-16)
"And thus did Alma and Amulek go forth, and also many more who had been chosen for the work, to preach the word throughout all the land. And the establishment of the church became general throughout the land, in all the region round about, among all the people of the Nephites.
"And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming."

Alma 28:13 (10-14)
"And from the first year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.
"And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
"While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.
"And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.
"And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life."

Alma 30: 7, 11
"Now there was no law against a man's belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.
"For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
"Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve Him; but if he did not believe in Him there was no law to punish him.
"But if he murdered he was punished unto death; and if he robbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed adultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.
"For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law given against a man's belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds."

3 Nephi 6:14
"And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches.
"Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God.
"And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.
"Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world."

4 Nephi 1:3
"And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.
"And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift."

D&C 49:20
"For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.
"But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.
"And wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need."

Exploring Peaceful Prosperity 1

I suspect this will be the first of multiple posts on the topic, but who knows, maybe not. At any rate, I'm labelling it as post 1 in case it is.

The following is about my 4th rough draft of an introductory document for my team. It will probably undergo further revisions, though I doubt I'll update it here.

====

I welcome you to Strongbrook family and the Peaceful Prosperity movement! We are united in a great cause!

What is Peaceful Prosperity?

Peaceful prosperity is a vision and a movement. As is suggested in the name, there are two parts: peace and prosperity.

Peace

Included in this packet is the book The Anatomy of Peace. I have purchased this book as a gift for you because of the message it contains. When I read this book for the first time, it resonated deeply with me and I knew it would be a part of my life going forward. The only literature I hold in higher esteem than this book is Holy Writ.

This book opens my eyes to how I see others and gives me a language to communicate that vision. While an easy read, I hope this book will expand your vision and understanding of yourself and those around you.

Prosperity

Books, books, and more books have been written about financial wealth and prosperity, but in the end, money is simply a tool; real prosperity is not about the quantity of stuff you have but about the quality of your life.

True prosperity is obtained independent of financial wealth through living positive ideals such as gratitude, charity, and kindness. Without such ideals, financial wealth will be a tool with which you destroy yourself and damage others. With sound and positive ideals, that same financial wealth becomes a tool for achieving eternal happiness as you enrich the lives of others.

Peaceful Prosperity

Peaceful prosperity implies using wealth to liberate without oppressing, to enable without debilitating, and to honor the humanity and sovereignty of others as opposed to making others the objects of our own self-righteous charity. The mission of the Peaceful Prosperity movement is to become and develop fabulously wealthy people who see others as people.

Peaceful Prosperity stands on three pillars: spiritual, mental, and financial health. We encourage the individual development of these through:

1) Spending time daily to connect with our Higher Power through Holy Writ.

2) Continual personal development via study, mentorship, training, and experience.

3) Providing clear opportunities, systems, and leadership to create significant residual income.

This is the prosperity we are seeking; this is Peaceful Prosperity. As a member of the Peaceful Prosperity team, we hope you will lead by example, seeking to embody these principles while leading others to do the same!

For more information, visit peaceful-prosperity.com

====


Note: peaceful-prosperity.com is not up yet, and it may be a bit before it is. :)


Inspiring People to Connect Daily with God
Some may feel put off with such a blatant connection between business and religious content. If I may, I would like to explain this relationship, first, by what it is not.

I do not see this as a business venture that I am infusing with a spiritual aspect. So what is my intent? What do I see? Well, to me, Peaceful Prosperity is fundamentally a spiritual movement which, as part of its mission, contains a financial/business component.

It is my belief that any individual will be inhibited in developing the qualities and characteristics of Peaceful Prosperity without a belief in a Higher Power. As such, this movement must include inspiring and fostering one's own relationship with Diety. Whatever your belief system, I encourage you to find and study daily a work that you consider Divinely inspired, e.g. The Bible, The Qur'an, The Book of Mormon, Vedas, etc. and practice its principles.

As will be seen, I reference verses of scripture without reservation not as an endorsement of a any religious movement, but for the principles they contain. To quote a friend of mine, Leslie Householder, "the interpretation and application of scriptures and ideas here are my own and do not necessarily represent the beliefs or doctrine of any particular denomination." In short, this is not about religion at all, it simply includes one's own relationship with Diety.

I recognize that this will yet put some people off. While that is not my aim, it is okay. We are all different and I respect that, and hopefully with this, my intent is clear... albeit rather wordy. :)

I will write more later on other points, but that's all I wish to write at the moment.

What She Said

This is another instance of reading a post that outlined something so well, I feel no need to write anything to expound on it, but I want it to be part of my blog too.

So I'm just going to say: "What she said."

http://segullah.org/daily-special/god-of-stories-god-of-laws/

Peaceful Prosperity

Satan uses a particular tool to incite war, conflict, and oppression: money.

He immediately goes to work using this tool from the very beginning of this Telestial sphere. Interestingly, warding off this attack has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with one's internal perspective about money.

Satan tries to make money feel scarce, like it needs to be fought for and hoarded. God invites us to be grateful, wise, and generous with our resources. Satan uses money to stir conflict among people; God uses money to allow us, His children, to experience peace as we see each other as His equally valued children.

Often when God prospers His people, they slip into Satan's agenda of proud and warring hearts. Yet, as they humble themselves, God will let them try again. I believe He wants us to learn the great peace, nobility, and abundance that can come with prosperity if we will simply choose Him.

Peaceful prosperity is the antithesis of Satan's agenda; it is the Utopian result of a God-like people (See 4 Nephi); it is the goal and vision of what we can obtain, both individually and as a society!

Thus we see that money is neither good nor bad, but can be used as a tool for either. If money were evil then good people could not be good in having it and every corner of the earth would be ruled with oppression, destruction, bloodshed, and horror.

Inasmuch as people are infused with peaceful prosperity, then love, kindness, gratitude, and abundance will abound. In other words, peaceful prosperity in individual hearts will generate outward peace and prosperity among a people.

I hope to inspire peaceful prosperity in the hearts of men, women, and children -- to foster a multi-generational tradition of opposing Satan because we prosper peacefully. This is the movement I stand for.

Some Thoughts about Wealth

"I know that relative poverty and hard work are not greater adversities than affluence and abundant free time. I also know that strength is forged in adversity and that faith is developed in a setting where we cannot see ahead." --Elder Oaks

Thankfully, affluence does not free us of adversity! God's plan for His children can not be thwarted by so light a triviality.

There is also no sense of greater virtue in poverty, as though a lack of resources is somehow a more worthy state. It has been said that monetary wealth only magnifies or makes visible that which is already in one's heart.

The question is not about what we have, but about who we become.

This leads to another question, are we more able to become, to grow and develop, when we have financial resources than when we do not?

At least in my life environment, I'm inclined to believe we are. One who can afford a mentor will be provided greater such opportunities than one who can not.

From the cycle seen in the Book of Mormon, it seems that as people keep His commandments, they are prospered financially, and shortly thereafter, they often cease keeping His commandments. It's almost like He would say "Okay, you passed level 1, now let's try level 2," and more often than not, the people failed at level 2 and had to go back to level 1. (This is a harsh scale -- it is not intended to be literal.)

I find nobility in passing levels line upon line, precept upon precept. Financial wealth brings greater blessings and greater requirement. With more resources, there are more avenues available for both righteousness and sin!

I believe that God wants us to progress and prosper, and that he wants us to succeed at taking on new challenges and maintain a virtuous life with abundance.

Thus we see the significance of passing on the lessons we have learned to our children. Starting them at higher level of financial blessings without having the lessons requisite for living with it is putting them atop a platform void of foundation, and it's only a matter of time before they fall.

All of this is not to say that having a reversal of financial fortune is due to unrighteous living, certainly not. But living according to sound financial principles can be done righteously, and unrighteousness will eventually lead to a reversal of financial fortune.

The only way to maintain wealth generationally is to learn, live, and pass on the lessons of financial, spiritual, and familial peace and prosperity.

Agents unto Ourselves

 While I was looking up in the scriptures about agents, I found an interesting concept in some of the verses.

And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.

(Moses 6:56 - emphasis added)

Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.

Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.

(D&C 29:34-35 - emphasis added)

For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

(D&C 58:26-28 - emphasis added)

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 104:17 - emphasis added)


What is this about being agents unto ourselves? At first it seems simply that we have been given agency to make choices, and this is true enough, but perhaps that's incomplete. It's not just that we have choices, but to me there seems to be a sense that we have a work to do and, inasmuch as we do it, we will be blessed.

What that work is is for us to discover and pursue as agents unto ourselves, always within the guidelines and commandments of God. What our work is (within His commandments) may in fact be less important to Him than how we engage in it! Thus, we are free to choose, in all righteousness, that which we most enjoy, that which pleases us the most and provides us the most meaning! How great is that?!

Does that sound like being an agent unto oneself? To me it does. Being an agent unto oneself is to act in one's self interest, and the highest, most Godly form of that is to live in a self-servingly altruistic manner. This is how God lives, for His work and His glory is the supremely altruistic act of our immortality and eternal life, and yet our immortality and eternal life all contribute to His glory! Self-serving altruism is living in a way where you gain great meaning, enjoyment, and yes, even financial compensation as you bring to pass much righteousness.

But financial compensation? If we accept financial compensation now, then when we are judged, will we not be told we have already received our reward? (Matthew 6) I would respond similar to Alma and ask "Do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?" (Alma 32:10) Or said another way do ye suppose that ye can do no noble, virtuous, or altruistic thing if it be compensated with money? Or yet another way, do ye suppose that providing for your family can only be brought to pass by ignominious means?

Altruism has been defined as "unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others." This feels very noble, but it can also include the insidious. How so? By being blind to one's true concern and devotion. Mistaking the measure of one's sacrifice as the measure of one's service is not at all service, but selfishness and the seeking of one's own vain glory. It leads not to a heart of satisfaction but to a heart of resentment. It is a counterfeit altruism that creates a martyr or victim of its agent. Altruism in its truest form is unavoidably self-serving as well; it can not help but lift up the heart of the man that acts in it.

It is worth noting that asking for financial compensation for a good or service can, in and of itself, be altruistic. In the words of Thomas Paine, "what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." Requiring a financial sacrifice for a good or service can serve to bless the buyer. After all, even "heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods." (The American Crisis)

I am not here arguing that any and all services should be financially compensated. Heavens no! It is crucial for each of us to engage in service without any expectation of recompense, financial or otherwise! But we simply can not avoid recompense if we are acting out of true altruism. It is a divine principle that righteous action brings reward. (Mosiah 2:24)

And now, I have gone on a bit of a tangent. So coming back to the original question, what does it mean to be agents unto ourselves? While it indeed means that we are able to choose that which we think will be best for us, it is more. To magnify being agents unto ourselves suggests that we be obedient to God and engage diligently in causes or works that are meaningful to us! Some of these may provide financial compensation while others may not, but as we seek His glory through our own joy and fulfillment, we will be successful agents unto ourselves.

* It is also important that we allow others to serve us. It is important for the giver and the recipient, and I do not mean to diminish that in my comments, but to mention it inline above would have only distracted from the point at hand.