Unbelief creates a lack of understanding

And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened. Mosiah 26:3

This verse intrigues me. What do I not understand because of my unbelief? An express causal relationship is portrayed here.

Now this doesn't imply that every lack of understanding is caused by unbelief, but that unbelief is indeed a cause of a lack of understanding.

Unbelief creates lack.

The thirteenth article of faith teaches "we believe all things." I've never thought that to imply gullibility. At the same time, the word used is all.

I've oft pondered what could be meant by this. I have a number of thoughts, none of which I am completely confident on, but I want this post to be short and sweet, so perhaps another day.

The Principle of Stewardship

I believe that we are stewards, not owners, of resources on this earth.

I am not saying I don't believe in private property ownership -- I certainly do. From a secular standpoint, we are owners; from an eternal perspective, we are stewards.

In the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin:

We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.

Okay, so we're stewards. So what?

Well, lets look at just a few implications of that.

If we are stewards, then all that which we have is not ours, but the Master's.

A successful steward uses the resources entrusted to him (or her, but I've grown weary of writing him/her all the time) to create not just sufficient for the master, but also sufficient for himself and his family. Otherwise he becomes a burden to the master rather than an asset.

A wise steward does not hoard his master's possessions in fear they may be lost; that is the way of the slothful servant who buried his master's talent in the earth.

A wise steward also does not squander his master's possessions on his own gluttony; that is the way of the unjust steward.

Note that both lost their stewardships!

A wise steward uses his resources (including but not limited to his labor) to provide a good or service and generate an increase.

As a master may ask for a reckoning at any time, a successful steward stands in need of generating a continual flow of resources.

As Chris Miles states so well:

Money follows value and exchange creates wealth.

Providing value for an exchange means we use our resources to serve!

Let's consider the text of another brief parable for a moment:

And [Jesus] spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

Parables have many meanings and I make no intent to claim interpretive rights, so with that said, may I translate this parable into my view of modern culture?

The job of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
And he thought within himself, saying, What do I do with all this money? For I don't know how to manage it!
And he said, I know what I'll do: I'll hoard it all up in different accounts, and there will I put all my money.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much money laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

The following verse reads:

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

I believe we are surrounded by a social epidemic of accumulation mindset.

Modern day retirement planning has been marketed in ways that promote this mindset.

Lest I be misinterpreted -- I'm not knocking any specific investment. It's not the vehicle so much as the mindset and intent.

Some questions to consider:
Am I using my resources to provide a valuable good or service?
Are my resources creating a continual, flowing return?
And perhaps the most important, am I providing a return for the Master?

Stewards do not hoard or squander, they administer their resources to create flow. And isn't that what a master does with his stewards? Is not a steward a master-in-training?

We are stewards and our resources are meant to be used.

I believe in the principle of stewardship.

Vision, Trust, and God : Beliefs, Productivity, and Values

Gratitude builds Contentment.

Humility builds Clarity

Contentment and Clarity invite Vision


Integrity and Intent build Character

Expertise and Results build Competence

Character and Competence establish Trust


Charity invites Relationships

Faith invites Miracles

Relationships and Miracles? Well, what did He do for you?

I could end there, but one further insight calls to me. I hope it adds, not detracts.


We call how we see the world our perspective. Our perspective is built upon the beliefs we have adopted throughout life. Generally we are good observers, but poor interpreters. Gratitude and humility help us analyze the belief windows through which we see, i.e. our perspective.

When you feel something is crucial, that it just has to get done, who will you ask to do it? Someone who you perceive as both competent and of good character? Or someone who is lacking in one or both of these areas? Confidence or trust is the key ingredient to lasting, and even most short-term, productivity.

What are your core, fundamental values? What or whom do you love purely and completely? Wherein or in whom do you place ALL your trust? What would you risk life for? Even more, what would you dedicate your life for? "Dedication is a whole lot tougher than risking, because it takes time." --Hryum W. Smith


You see, when you get all these three:

1. Your perspective is aligned with Truth and reality 
2. You have a deep sense of self trust 
3. Your thoughts, words, and actions are aligned with what you value most 

Then, you will find yourself filled with inner peace.


#3gaps #gratifuel #speedoftrust #arbinger #prophets #scripture

Think About Your Cans

If a number is not positive, we often say it's negative.

If something is not good, we often say it's bad.

If something is not red, we often say it's... um... wait what?

Well, these don't quite work.

If a number is negative, then true, it's not positive, and if something is bad, it's certainly not good, but the converse is not necessarily true.

Take zero, for example. Zero is neither positive nor negative, so to say that a number that's not positive must be negative is not quite right.

Or money. Money is neither good nor bad, and not being one does not imply that it is the other! Money just... is.

Colors? Well shoot, there's a whole spectrum!

I got thinking about this concept with a few other words: can, can't, will, won't.

Can't makes will or won't moot, while can makes will or won't a choice.

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right" said Henry Ford.

Of course, this is bound by natural law, but how much of natural law do we understand, and how much do we just think we understand? I'm pretty sure most physicists could show us a think or two that would make us second guess some of our understanding of natural law! But I digress.

What I noticed here is that focusing on what you can't do limits your options, while focusing on what you can do makes options and choices available to you.

Could it be that just focusing on what you can do will open doors for you? Yes, I believe so.

So any time you're tempted to tell yourself I can't, try asking yourself this question: what can I do? What options do I have?

We're here on earth to learn to be more like our Heavenly Father. I don't think He goes around thinking "ah, I can't do that." I mean the idea of it is just beyond silly!

Now I fully recognize that no, we're not Him, but I do think He likes it when we think more like Him. I mean, we're His children, you know?

So what can you do? Don't talk or even think about can'ts; talk and think about your cans. 

Power Struggle

In any power struggle there can be no victor, for while one may conquer the behavior of another, the character and souls of both are degraded and diminished.

The only way to come out unscathed if coerced into struggle is to struggle not for power, but for the liberty of both parties.

A power struggle is a symptom of individual hearts at war, be they parent and child, spouse and spouse, or nation and nation. A heart may even be at war with oneself.

Hearts at war and their symptomatic power struggles serve only to pull down the human race; when one of us is degraded, all of us are degraded, and when one of us improves, we are all better off.

A body may be at war while the heart is at peace and a heart may be at war while the body is at peace, nonetheless where the heart is the body will eventually follow.

A heart at peace strives for meaning while a heart at war strives for lust, usually a lust of power.

A family with hearts at peace lift each other while a family with hearts at war resist each other. Phrased another way, a family with hearts at peace pull together (i.e. pull with each other in a constructive manner that lifts the whole) while a family with hearts at war pull against each other.

This is all nice and good, but how do we maintain a heart at peace? How do we resist a power struggle?

Much could be said here, and I recommend the following two books:
* The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute
* Parenting a House United by Nicholeen Peck

At this time I will only add that clarity helps. If we know what we want most -- peace over power, kindness over being right, love over fear, calm over frustration -- and we have faith and confidence regarding what to do in any given situation to obtain these, then we will obtain them.

Others may continually invite us to a power struggle, but in our hearts we can always choose a peaceful engagement.

Everyone Is My Teacher

Often my posts here are inspired from an insight during scripture study, and as this is no different, I begin by quoting the scripture of note:

And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.

And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.

(1 Nephi 16:1-3, emphasis added)

 This intrigues me.

Has anyone ever criticized you? How did it go? Let me dig in a little more specific.

Has anyone ever criticized you for something so ridiculous, you sincerely laughed it off without a care because you knew they had no concept of what they were saying -- you knew the criticism was completely baseless?

Has anyone ever criticized you for something utterly ridiculous, yet it still stung?

I believe the following two thoughts are principles of happiness, i.e. if we live by these principles, we must be happier, and if we do not, we must be less happy:

1. Accept in your mind that you live in a world where others get to make their own choices
2. Make everyone your teacher

I'll skip the first one for now, but would like to take a moment with the second.

When we hear something that we "take to be hard," a common reaction is to shoot the messenger. That is, we begin saying things like: "Who are they to talk?", "They ought to look at the beam in their own eye first!", or "I can't believe she said that, did you hear that? That was the rudest..." and on and on.

However, what we often will not do, is look inward and ask, is it true of me?


Because we take it to be hard, we want to murmur against it rather than consider it. Yet President Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared this fantastic insight: "seeing ourselves clearly is the beginning of wisdom." (General Coference, October 2014)

What I see in these verses is this concept: if someone says something that triggers us to temper, even if not an outright accusation, this indicates a flaw inside of us that we are likely trying to hide from the world... and even more likely, from ourselves.

If we will make everyone our teacher, however, then we can recognize that initial flare as guidance leading us to introspection, seeking what weakness is hidden within us. This will lead us to greater wisdom as we take that weakness before the Lord and seek His enabling grace.

We are none of us perfect, and these verses offer us an insight into finding our blind spots -- finding our wickedness -- that through Christ, we may root it out.

Tempted Above what we can Bear

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. 10:13)

An intriguing verse to be sure. Many people find comfort in this verse and, while I do as well, I also find responsibility in it.

First, as we grow in intelligence, spiritual strength, and stewardship, we will be exposed to greater temptation.

Second, God will make a way to escape temptation, but we must choose to take it! And note that the escape is such that we may well still bear the temptation, but we will escape from succumbing to it.


Expounding on the First:

When I was baptized at eight years old, I remember having a sense of disappointment thereafter because I didn't notice any mighty change or difference in my day to day life. I expected that, since Satan could tempt me, and that I had the Holy Ghost, I would suddenly become vividly aware of a great war! The idea somewhat excited my eight year old boy imagination. Instead, everything seemed, well, normal!

I suspect that this is largely aligned with this verse in Corinthians. It's as though Satan can only tempt us to the degree we are able to act. For example, he can't tempt you to read something naughty if you don't know how to read. He can try to whisper an evil idea into our minds, but if we are unable to comprehend the concept, there will be no temptation.