Beyond Politics- Hugh Nibley

"Plain humility is reverence and respect in the presence of the lowest, not the highest, of God's creatures."

"It is not our intention...to place the law of man on a parallel with the law of heaven, because we do not consider that it is formed in the same wisdom and propriety... it is not sufficient in itself to bestow anything on man in comparison with the law of heaven, even should it promise it."

"Sermons, dissertations and arguments by preachers and writers in the Church concerning the Kingdom of God that IS to BE are NOT to be understood as relating to the PRESENT.  If they... convey the idea that the dominion to come is to be exercised now, the claim is incorrect."

"It is up to us to decide how much power Satan shall have on this earth, but only in respect to ourselves; the fight is all within us."

"There is only one thing in a man's world that can offer any check on the unlimited power of money- and that is government.  That is why money always accuses government of trying to destroy free agency, when the greater enslaver has always been money itself."

Read the entire essay here:  http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=162

LDS Welfare- Do we SEE the Poor Among Us?

Some observations about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and our Church Welfare System.

This is not meant to be a critique- just an observation.  I am certainly left with more questions than answers.

The Church does an amazing job of providing assistance to its members all over the world.  Our humanitarian missionaries teach self-sufficiency skills such as growing crops, child care, literacy and first aid to less developed countries.  We also help provide long term solutions in these countries such as creating community access to clean water.  When disaster strikes on American turf or otherwise, the Mormon Helping Hands are some of the first responders.  Our Welfare Square in Salt Lake City runs more efficiency and with more internal options for food sourcing (Church owned crops, orchards, cattle ranches) and food production and preservation methods (cheese, bread, canned and dried fruits and vegetables) than probably any other Food Banking system in the world. 

My limited experience working in Food Banking has brought to my awareness the tremendous amount of good that is being done by members of other faiths.  Most of the food pantries, shelters and community kitchens in the Hartford area are operated by churches.  Often times the church provides the facilities (storage, kitchens, eating areas) and church members and non-church members work together to make it happen.  These people are out there, they SEE the needs and shortages in our community.  They work to the point of fatigue to help those who will still need help tomorrow.  They do what they can to provide every day knowing that tomorrow there will still be more need.  They grow frustrated when the fiscally conservative say “let the Churches care for the poor- it isn’t government’s responsibility.”  It seems so harsh.  Walk a day in their shoes and then ask yourself- how could they possibly do more than they are already doing?  How can they do more with their limited resources?  Ironically it’s usually those who have never spent an hour in this kind of service who say “let the Churches do more”.

And so, as many of my LDS friends, family and acquaintances tend to fall in line with the fiscally and socially conservative Republicans- it just causes me to think- If we as members of the LDS Church had more opportunity to see the needs in our community- would it change our hearts?  The Book of Mormon is full of examples of how class divisions lead to ignoring the poor- which eventually leads to pride and destruction.  Is the real issue for those of us who are diligently serving in our callings not that we are ignoring the poor- but more that we really don’t understand that the poor are among us- simply because we don't see them?

I believe that if the LDS had more of an opportunity to SEE the poor among them they would experience a mighty change of heart- and it may even cause them to feel differently about their vote this election.

Faithful members are encouraged to give a generous Fast Offering.  What portion do?  What do they consider to be "generous"?  Or do the majority not understand the difference between a tithe and a fast offering and how the two funds are dispersed?

My observation is that only a small portion of Church members have an opportunity to be “hands- on” in LDS Church Welfare services.  Yes- we are encouraged to volunteer with our local and community services- but what portion do?  I think that many have the mindset that they spend so many hours “volunteering” in their own Church in their calling that they feel they don’t have time for serving outside of the Church.  For the most part our opportunity to get our hands dirty in the temporal part of LDS Church Welfare is limited to these options:

·         Serving as a Bishop/Branch President or Relief Society
·         Serving as a home teacher or visiting teacher
·         Working or volunteering at Welfare Square in SLC or the Bishops Storehouse
·         Responding to local calls when natural disaster strikes
·         Serving a humanitarian mission for the Church (which is limited to Seniors)
·         Serving a proselyting mission for the Church

Bishop or Relief Society President- Certainly an opportunity to know the specific needs of the ward members, both spiritually and temporally.  However, while Bishops are allowed to give temporal assistance to non-members when it is requested, they are not instructed to seek out the poverty stricken non-members of their ward boundaries for this purpose.  Consequently, those individuals in these two callings deal almost exclusively with their own ward members.  Granted-in some demographics, this may be all that these two individuals could physically handle.  However, I also know of wards that have very little to no temporal needs among the members.

Home or Visiting Teacher- When it comes to temporal assistance, they are instructed to advise the RS President or Bishop of any needs and assist as instructed.  In their Church calling as a VT or HT they are going to be limited to members.  Depending on ward demographics this may or may not be an opportunity for temporal assistance.

Welfare Square and Bishop’s Storehouse- Working or volunteering at Welfare Square is clearly limited to those in the Salt Lake area.  Bishop’s Storehouses tend to be regional with limited hours of operation.

Mormon Helping Hands- certainly provides an opportunity to get one’s hands dirty, however the opportunity is generally short term as a response to natural disaster.

Humanitarian Missions- This is where the greatest opportunity lies.  It is my dream to someday have this opportunity.  Unfortunately at this time it is limited to seniors.  Why are young men and women not offered the choice in serving a humanitarian mission instead of a proselyting mission?  My guess is that many would choose humanitarian and perhaps the Church feels that proselyting missions do more to grow the missionary’s own spirituality.  (Worthy of debate.)

Proselyting Missions- I do believe there is a great opportunity here nonetheless.  Today’s missionaries (including young men, young women and seniors) are directed to spend a great portion of their time looking for ways to serve.  There are certainly a majority of places where the missionary could be assigned to an area of great poverty and high needs.  But again, this experience is limited to young adults and seniors.

So where are the opportunities in the Church for the families, the 30-60 year olds who are able bodied and eager to serve?  I just don’t know that they exist INSIDE the Church- one has to look outside.

I commend a ward in our Stake who recently agreed to host a Foodshare Mobile truck for dispensing fresh produce to those in need in their community.  The ward will provide ten volunteers each Thursday morning to help hand out nutritious food to those who need and desire it.  I wish more wards would seek for ways to help take care of the Lord’s children who are in need, for they ARE among us.

Let not Your Heart Be Troubled

I could have just posted this over in my favorite talks section- but honestly, it is so darn applicable today that I just want to give it its own special little place  here.


Gordon B. Hinckley was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given at Brigham Young University on 29 October 1974.

It is good to be here with you this morning, my dear young friends. I ask that the Lord will help me to say something that will help you.

Recently I spent the better part of a week in Washington, D.C., living in a hotel room. Each morning I watched the early news on television and then read the morning paper while eating breakfast. President Ford had just granted a pardon to his predecessor. The amount of venom that spewed from the mouths and pens of the commentators was unbelievable. They were aflame with indignation. In all that week of morning watching and reading I never heard nor read among the commentators and editorialists a single paragraph of positive thought. The speakers were brilliant. They were men of incisive language, scintillating in expression. The columnists were masters of the written word. With studied art they poured out the sour vinegar of invective and anger, judging as if all wisdom belonged to them. At the conclusion of that week, I too made a negative observation. Said I, "Surely this is the age and place of the gifted pickle sucker."

The tragedy is that this spirit is epidemic. Criticism, fault-finding, evil speaking—these are of the spirit of the day. They are in our national life. To hear tell these days, there is nowhere a man of integrity among those holding political office. In many instances this spirit has become the very atmosphere of university campuses. The snide remark, the sarcastic gibe, the cutting down of associates—these, too often, are of the essence of our conversation. In our homes wives weep and children finally give up under the barrage of criticism leveled by husbands and fathers. Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, sometimes a catalyst that leads to failure. Even in the Church it sows the seed of inactivity and finally apostasy.

I come this morning with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that we "accentuate the positive." I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course. I am not suggesting that our conversation be all honey and blossoms. Clever expression that is sincere and honest is a skill to be sought and cultivated.

What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears.

When I was a boy our father often said to us:

Cynics do not contribute.

Skeptics do not create.

Doubters do not achieve.

Challenges to Our Political System

I should like to say a few words about America. I know that there are many here who come from other lands. I think I have been in all of the lands from which you come. I appreciate your people, their innate goodness, their art, their industry, their strength. I have marveled at the beauty of the earth, the wonder and magnificence of God's creations, as I have seen them in every part of the world. No land is without its beauty, no people without their virtues, and I hope that you who come from elsewhere will pardon my saying a few words concerning my own native land, America. I know that she has problems. We have heard so much of them for so long. But surely this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty. It was born of travail. The Constitution under which we live is the keystone of our nation. It was inspired of God. Of it, the great Gladstone said, "As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from progressive history, so the American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a give time by the brain and purpose of man" ("Kin Beyond the Sea," North American Review, September 1878).

In a few months we shall celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the nation. Is it not a miracle that through these two centuries of time our system of government has remained intact, our Constitution has held while storms have beaten about us from within and without?

There is too much fruitless, carping criticism of America. Perhaps the times are dark. There have been dark days in every nation. I should like to repeat the words of Winston Churchill spoken exactly thirty-three years ago today. Bombs were then dropping on London. The German juggernaut had overrun Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Russia. All of Europe was in the dread grasp of tyranny, and England was to be next. In that dangerous time, when the hearts of many were failing, this great Englishman said:

Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race. [Address at Harrow School, 29 October 1941]

Earlier he had said to his people and to the whole world, following the catastrophe at Dunkirk when the prophets of doom foretold the end of Britain:

We shall not flag or fail. . . . We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. [Speech on Dunkirk, House of Commons, 4 June 1940]

It was such talk as this, and not the critical faultfinding of glib cynics, that preserved the great people of Britain through those dark and deadly days when all the world thought their little island would go under.

It shall be so with America if we will do less speaking of her weaknesses and more of her goodness and strength and capacity. I was stirred in my heart by the words of our late, great President Harold B. Lee, who, speaking to a group such as this, said:

This nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. . . . I have faith in America. You and I must have faith in America if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [Deseret News, 27 October 1973]

I doubt not that we shall have days of trial. I am confident that so long as we have more politicians than statesmen, we shall have problems. But I am certain that if we will emphasize the greater good and turn our time and talents from vituperative criticism, from constantly looking for evil, and lift our sights to what may be done to build strength and goodness in our nation, America shall continue to go forward with the blessing of the Almighty and stand as an ensign of strength and peace and generosity to all the world.

Economic Challenges

We hear much talk of economic depression these days. Heaven forbid that we should ever slip again into the kind of monetary quagmire through which we struggled in the 1930s. Those were the days of the long soup lines, of suicides that came of discouragement, of a bleakness of life which few of you can understand. I hope and pray that such hard times will never come again. But I think it not impossible or even improbable if enough people, in the spirit of negativism and defeatism, talk about it and predict it. We are the creatures of our thinking. We can talk ourselves into defeat or we can talk ourselves into victory.

Likewise, it is so in the Church. We even have some who quibble and fret over little things, evidently totally unaware of the majestic destiny of this, the work of God.

When gold was discovered in California in January of 1848, men of the Mormon Battalion were there and participated in the discovery. Completing their contract, they came to the Salt Lake Valley to join their families. Some of them brought with them gold, and in the hard and desperate days that followed, particularly in the bitter winter if 1848–49, many wanted to go to California, where life was easier and gold was to be picked from the riverbeds. In that time of gloom, Brigham Young stood before the people in the old Bowery on Temple Square and said:

Some have asked me about going. I have told them that God has appointed this place for the gathering of his saints, and you will do better right here than you will by going to the gold mines. . . . We have been kicked out of the frying pan into the fire, out of the fire into the middle of the floor, and here we are and here we will stay. God has shown me that this is the spot to locate his people, and here is where they will prosper. . . . We shall build a city and a temple to the most high god in this place. We will extend our settlements to the east and west, to the north and south, and we will build towns and cities by the hundreds, and thousands of the saints will gather in from the nations of the earth. This will become the great highway of the nations. Kings and emperors and the noble and wise of the earth will visit us here, while the wicked and ungodly will envy us our comfortable homes and possessions. [Autobiography of James Brown, pp. 119–23, cited by Preston Nibley, Brigham Young, the Man and His Work (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1936), pp. 127–28]

What a remarkable statement under such circumstances!

My heart goes out to those who were cold and hungry that winter. I am sure there was much of grumbling and criticism, and understandably so. But how marvelous when a man looked beyond the winter and spoke as a prophet, under the power of the Holy Spirit, of better days to come.

Those days have come. Last year more people visited Temple Square in Salt Lake City than visited Yellowstone Park. This hasbecome the great highway of the nations. Kings and emperors and the noble and wise of the earth constantly visit us here.

Brigham Young went on to say on that occasion:

It is our duty to preach the gospel, gather Israel, pay our tithing, and build temples. The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty and all manner of persecution, and be true. It my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth. 

[Nibley,Brigham Young, p. 128]

To which I can hear many of you say, "Hasten the day."

I believe that day, spoken of by Brigham Young with a voice of prophecy that rose above the voices of defeat and criticism, has come. We have been blessed with the bounties of heaven and the bounties of earth. Oh, how magnificently and munificently we have been blessed! Now, with gratitude in our hearts, let us not dwell upon the few problems we have. Let us rather count our blessings and in a great spirit of gratitude, motivated by a great faith, go forth to build the kingdom of God in the earth.

Educational Challenges

Likewise, in our life on this campus, let us look for and cultivate the wonders of our opportunity, here to partake of learning, here to enjoy marvelous associations, here to develop great loyalties. It is so easy, under the pressure of the daily grind, to become negative and critical, to be shortsighted and go down in defeat. I have been touched by these words spoken by Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who at one time served as president of the University of California. Said he to a group of students:

This university shall be a family's glorious old mother, by whose hearth you shall love to sit down. Love her. It does a man good to love noble things, to attach his life to noble allegiances. It is a good thing to love the Church, it is a good thing to love the State. It is a good thing to love one's home, it is a good thing to be loyal to one's father and mother. And, after the same sort, it is good to be loyal to the university, which stands in life for the purest things and the cleanest, loftiest ideals. Cheer for her; it will do your lungs good. Love her; it will do your heart and life good.

In your associations one with another, build and strengthen one another. "No man is an island; no man stands alone." We so need help and encouragement and strength, one from another.

On one occasion when the Savior was walking among a crowd, a woman who had been long sick touched his garment. He perceived that strength had gone out of him. The strength that was his had strengthened her. So it may be with each of us. Let me urge you to desist from making cutting remarks one to another. Rather, cultivate the art of complimenting, of strengthening, of encouraging. What wonders we can accomplish when others have faith in us. No leader can long succeed in any society without the confidence of the people. It is so with us in our daily associations. Said the Lord to Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31–32). Declared Paul, "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak." And then he adds, "and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1).

It is a responsibility divinely laid upon us to bear one another's burdens, to strengthen one another, to encourage one another, to lift one another, to look for the good in one another, and to emphasize that good. There is not a student in this assembly who cannot be depressed on the one hand, or lifted on the other, by the remarks of his associates.

I was impressed with a Sydney Harris column that I clipped from the Deseret News some years ago. Said this eminent writer:

Sir Walter Scott was a trouble to all his teachers and so was Lord Byron. Thomas Edison, as everyone knows, was considered a dullard in school. Pestalozzi, who later became Italy's foremost educator, was regarded as wild and foolish by his school authorities.

Oliver Goldsmith was considered almost an imbecile. The Duke of Wellington failed in many of his classes. Among famous writers, Burns, Balzac, Boccaccio, and Dumas made poor academic records. Flaubert, who went on to become France's most impeccable writer, found it extremely difficult to learn to read. Thomas Aquinas, who had the finest scholastic mind of all Catholic thinkers, was actually dubbed "the dumb ox" at school. Linnaeus and Volta did badly in their studies. Newton was last in his class. Sheridan, the English playwright, wasn't able to stay in one school more than a year.

All of this seems to say to me that each of these men, every one of whom later become great, might have done much better in his studies had he received less of criticism and more of encouragement.

Two students of this University came to see me awhile ago. Six months earlier they had been married. They had declared their love one for another. They had pledged their loyalty one to another for time and eternity. Now, the young man came first. He was disillusioned. He was bitter. He was heartbroken. His wife, he said, did this and did that—simple little things of small consequence, such as leaving the dishes undone when she left for school in the morning. And then came his wife, a beautiful girl of great talent. She spoke of her husband's faults. He was stingy. He did not pick up his clothes. He was careless. Each had his or her faults. Every one of those faults was easily correctable. The problem lay in the fact that there was a stronger inclination to emphasize the faults than there was to talk of the virtues. With a little discipline, each could have changed. With a little desire, each could have spoken with a different tone. But neither was willing. They had permitted a negative attitude to destroy the sweetest, richest association of life. They had thrown away with careless and sour words the hopes and dreams of eternity. With criticism and shouting, they had violated the sacred promises that might have taken them on to exaltation.

My dear young friends, don't partake of the spirit of our times. Look for the good and build on it. Don't be a "pickle sucker." There is so much of the sweet and the decent and the good to build on.

You are partakers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel means "good news." The message of the Lord is one of hope and salvation. The voice of the Lord is a voice of glad tidings. The work of the Lord is a work of glorious and certain reward. I do not suggest that you simply put on rose-colored glasses to make the world look rosy. I ask, rather, that you look above and beyond the negative, the critical, the cynical, the doubtful, to the positive. I carry with me a statement that I took from an article published some years ago on Commander William Robert Anderson, the man who took the submarine Nautilus under the North Pole from the waters of the Pacific to the waters of the Atlantic. In his wallet he carried a tattered card with these words: "I believe I am always divinely guided. I believe I will always take the right road. I believe God will always make a way where there is no way" (quoted in Look, 20 April 1971, p. 48).

Said the Lord in a dark and troubled hour to those he loved, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). May the Lord bless you, each of you, with faith, with affection, with hope, with charity, I ask humbly in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Glenn Beck- a wolf in sheep's clothing- March 2010

Also from March 2010- another response to a friend who is also a Glenn fan

I fully understand what Glenn is saying regarding “charity vs. forced distribution of wealth”.  I understand the point.  I just don’t agree with it.

Have I watched the Glenn Beck show?  Yes, once…. Yesterday… for 20 minutes.  And I am REALLY glad I did because he said this:  “Go ask your friends ‘what if I am right’?”  I loved that, because I have done this exercise and here is where it landed me:

If Glenn is right and Health Care Reform/Education Reform/Global Warming/Emigration Law change is all a change being made in secret combinations and secret societies to take our country towards socialism and then Marxism and Communism (which is exactly what he was preaching at that moment I watched) then MY life and the lives of my kids and future generations will all be much different than what we have known in the past.  I have roughly 45- 50 mortal years left on this earth and IF he is right I suspect that the wealth and opportunities that have been available to me in the past will diminish. 

If Glenn is wrong and Jesus speaks His mind on the issue on Judgement Day and says something to the effect of “the poor were cared for, whether by charity or their government, it matters not to me, the result is the same”, where will this leave Glenn and those who tried to reject this plan?   My fear is that He will say “Did you learn nothing from what I taught you?  The Nephite communities were destroyed over and over again because of their pride.”  (Read 3 Nephi 6- it spoke very loudly to me this week.  Especially verses 10-13)

"The Constitution Hanging on a Thread and the Elders of the Church will save it/"

You are referring to the White Horse Prophecy.  In January 2010 the First Presidency stated that this account can not be substantiated and it is NOT church doctrine.  I got this directly from the Church website Newsroom. (This whole issue is highly alarming to me.  Are there Elders in the Church who think that they have been called to do this?  Does this mean that they are preparing for a revolution?  Am I going to see a news storyabout an Elder’s Quorum in some ward who is headed to the White House to take over?  Is this where this is headed?)

Church Statement on "White Horse Prophecy" and Political Neutrality
Posted By Lyman Kirkland
Two weeks ago The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement regarding the so-called "White Horse prophecy" in response to news inquires regarding comments made by an Idaho politician. The matter has received additional coverage in the news media of late and so we reiterate that statement here: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate, party or platform. Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church."The so-called 'White Horse Prophecy' is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not  embraced as Church doctrine."

[quoting friend]   “I always wondered how the scriptures concerning the last day about "neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member (not a dirrect quote) would come to pass.  But I am now beginning to see how it can happen.” 

On this I agree.  In fact, if I have ANY concern or discomfort in all that is going on politically it is MY fear that there are some who are seeking to divide the righteous.  If I may be frank.  Glenn Beck was able to put me in “Satan’s Camp” in less than 20 minutes on his show today, simply because I don’t agree with him that we are headed for Communism.  I refer again to 3 Nephi 6.  It is the dividing of the righteous that will ruin this country.  I can speak with confidence when I tell you that there are MANY righteous and VERY good people (lds and non) who are not joining the Tea Party movement.  It is MY concern that this is where the danger lies.  It’s an extreme radicalism and it’s dangerous.

[quoting friend]  "You are an intelligent person, and I just want you to get your facts straight.  Where you are getting your information.?  You refuse you watch FOX network  -- the most watched network on TV. (There must be a reason for that.) " 

Oh… there are so many things I could say here.  But I will not.  I will simply refer back to what was written above.  I get my information from the news sources I stated above, scripture study, pondering and prayer.

[quoting friend]  "The pilgrims or the pioneers of this country would never have made it if they would not have carried their own load.  An able bodyied person could not have passed their responsibilities on for someone else in the wagon train or on the ship, while they sat around doing nothing, and have them all reap the same benefits.  Everyone is expected to carry on their own load.  Is life fair?" 

 I know.  And it is freaking me out that I heard him [Glenn Beck] say it and now you are quoting  it.  And in rebuttal I could offer this.  As preparation for our Pioneer Trek  this June I have read four histories and journals in the last month of the handcart pioneers.  Sure, one could say they carried their own load.  Or… you could consider this.  The Perpetual Emigration Fund.  Can I just rehash how it worked?  Saints who had ARRIVED in the Salt Lake Valley contributed to a Perpetual Emigration Fund whereby Saints in England, Denmark and other European Countries could have their ship passage, train passage and handcart paid for.  Upon arriving in the valley the Saint was to return what ever funds they received to the Perpetual Emigration Fund.  It worked for many.  One may call this a subsidy or a distribution of wealth?  In 1880 $337,000 of the outstanding debt was forgiven to those who John Taylor deemed were too poor to ever be able to pay it back.  In 1887 just before it was dissolved there were over 30,000 saints who had not repaid this fund.  So, did they really come on their own?  Hmmmm… or was there some help from those who were asked to contribute to the fund.

Today we have the Perpetual Education Fund.  In theory it works exactly the same.  (I know… voluntary, not forced… I get that.  But that point holds no value to me.)

Furthermore, do we not as a basic tenet of this gospel believe that ALL that we have… ALL THAT WE HAVE…  we have because it has been given to us?  

So does he (Glenn), do you, really believe they did it all on their own?

[quote from friend] "We want FREEDOM!  We do not want the government telling us what we can and cannot do -  and that is exactly what is happening." 

Ok, I know you don’t really mean this, because I don’t think I have to argue the reason we have laws  in order to live together in a society.  

[quote from friend] "We worried about 'the Russians coming.'  The Russians were communists, and the US was so worried about communism that we had 'bomb' drills in school as often as we had fire drills.Do you know what marxism or communism is?  That is where Obama and his Czars (who have to answer to no one) are taking us." 

This is one of those areas that your life experience is going to affect you.  The fear of those bomb drills must have been terrifying.  I am sure that it has left an impression upon your generation that is not upon mine.  

And this brings me to my final reason why I feel that I have found the right answer for me.  I have no fear- partially because I didn’t have the bomb scares in the 50s.  But mostly because I believe that my prophet would tell me… he would tell me at General Conference (where I intent to listen closely) if this were a REAL fear for our country.  He WOULD NOT tell me thru a man named Glenn Beck on a Cable News Channel.  This is not how the Lord works.

Until I am given a reason from my PROPHET to fear that we are headed towards communism I will refer to the lessons to be learned in the scriptures.  That lesson is that despite the things in our society that go on around me that are evil and wrong and seek to destroy the peace of the righteous, if I remain strong and steadfast in my faith and testimony… I have no reason to fear.

If I may quote Glenn Beck  “What if I am right?”

That I Might Know for Myself- How it all Started- March 2010

Another response to a friend about how I got to where I am.

March 2010


I  can’t tell you when this started for me, perhaps I was a bit of a late bloomer  as I did not have the high school or college rebellion that many youth do.  But  at some point in my mid 20s I realized that I had adopted much of the thinking  of the home I was raised in, and didn’t really have the “umpf” and knowledge  behind it to support it.  I am not saying this was a bad thing.  It was and is,  a very good thing to have been raised with the values of my home. But I began  to wonder “what do I think?”    I think most teenagers start to question their  parents and their viewpoints… it just came to me much later.  As I am now a  parent of teens and an almost young adult, I believe that it is our  responsibility to raise our kids WITH our opinions and viewpoints but to also  encourage them to find their own way and know things for themselves.  It was  during this time that I pretty much decided that the things I KNEW I believed  (the gospel mainly) didn’t need to be questioned.  But as I finally started to  grow up… huh… I finally started to think and study things out on my own.

The Political Party
I  remember being 18 years old and going to Judy M.'s home and registering to  vote.  She said “you are a Republican right?”  I was 18 and (see above) I  answered “well of course!”  Five years later in the 1992 presidential election,  I remember being enthralled with Ross Perot.  He made SENSE to me.  I followed  the campaign and he got my vote.  And since then, I make decisions  in ALL aspects of my life based on ONE important  principle…

BALANCE
Balance really governs everything I do and everything I say and everything I think.  I  see everything, and I do mean everything, in shades of grey.  There is very  little black and white in this world.  I scrutinize every decision I must make,  every consequence that follows.  I seek balance in all things.  I know that  there are very few definitive right answers and very few definitive wrong  answers.  It makes the world a very cloudy and confusing place at times which is  why I seek…

The Peace of the Gospel
When  I needed to know where to place my allegiance in this last election the answer  was of course grey (see above.)  There was not a candidate that represented ME  and where I stood on all the issues.  Therefore, I needed to turn to the issues  that are important to me at this time in my life and find the closest balance.   Originally I followed Mitt Romney and he would have had my vote had he won the  primary.  To say I was disgusted by McCain in the primaries would be putting it  very lightly.  He offended me deeply.  Furthermore, I was disgusted by the LDS  who would have supported Romney and then out of a matter of allegiance to the beloved Republican Party, they became McCain fans overnight.  It turned my  stomach.  Sarah Palin did not increase my confidence.  So yes, I voted for  Obama.  He spoke of change and at that time (and even at this time) change is  something this country DOES need.

I don’t watch television but I read the news every day.  I read the Hartford Courant, TIME, CNN, the Deseret News, the Church News and Google News (google  collects top stories from all sources).  I listen to the political chatter and I  do all of this concurrent with the most serious study of our Standard Works that  I have ever embarked on.  I am in my third year as a seminary teacher.  Doing so  not only requires a daily study of the scriptures  but some serious pondering on  how to apply them to our lives.  Every day I sit with 15 teenagers and I discuss  with them not only WHAT Jesus said, but WHY it matters and what my responsibilities as a Christian are.  I think it would be accurate to say that I spend 10-20 hours a week in scripture study.  Now, this may sound self righteous  and I don’t intend it to.  But I have to bring this in to the equation as I KNOW it has influenced me.  I attended seminary in high school, I did the 14 hours of religious credits needed to graduate from BYU.  But I can tell you with all honesty that these last 2.5 years is WHEN I have learned the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have heard it said from the pulpit and I can now bear testimony to the fact that while there are very real lessons there to be learned and at times words would literally jump off the page to me….  The greater blessing from MY time in the scriptures has been a greater peace and calm and confidence in knowing that I am living the best life I can be living right now.  Being immersed in the life of Christ on a daily basis has caused a change in me that could have happened in no other way. I have an intense desire to live the life He wants me to live.  I take my concerns about my family, my ward, my friends, my community and my country to the Lord in prayer.  I feel the peace of the gospel.  And that provides me with….

Confidence in my Decisions
I have heard your viewpoint and I know we disagree.  I understand WHAT you are saying, I just don’t agree with it.  My OWN personal journey has brought me to this:

1.    Our President is our elected official.  He is not a terrorist.  He has a difficult job and seeks to find the balance just like I do, on very important decisions.  He is not perfect and he is going to make a lot of mistakes.  He needs our constant prayers and support.

2.    Our country is NOT headed towards Communism.  If it were, our religious freedoms would be at stake and our Prophet would be warning us.  He has not.  If he does, I will react as the Prophet guides.

3.    Our Lord and Savior taught us that the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbor.  The New Testament and His life are nothing but examples of loving those that are the hardest to love.  My personal belief is that God holds a nation (even this nation) to the same standard that he holds an individual.  Yes, this country, this promised land, has a responsibility to care for it’s people.

4.    I  would rather support a gov’t program that runs the risk of being abused by those who will never become self reliant than continue to live in a country that does not care for it’s poor and where the opportunity is NOT the same for all Americans


That is it in a nutshell… a BIG nutshell.  I hope that if nothing else, what you will get from this is that I don’t treat these things lightly.  I feel very strongly and my belief is very strongly tied to my understanding of the scriptures.  You can imagine how frustrating it is for me when my views are challenged by those who have access to the same scriptures.  I don’t expect others to believe as I do, only to respect my decisions.

Safety [from the media] for the Soul- March 2010

This is more of an email conversation I had with a friend regarding Obama, Glenn Beck, Communism, The White Horse Prophesy etc.

In Relief Society that day we had a lesson on Elder Holland's talk from the October 2009 Conference called Safety for the Soul.  I thought so much of it applied to my current conversation with her.

March 2010 
I heard this talk in October conference and reading it today it sounded brand new to me.  There are two things that stood out the most to me in this talk:

1.    (second paragraph)  “Think of the heart as a figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties and our values, then consider Jesus’s declaration that in the last days ‘men’s hearts [shall fail] them.”     

What this says to me is that despite the earthquakes and floods, economic and political upheavals, the greatest destruction to mankind will be spiritual destruction that  will come thru lack of faith.  The question is then… Where do we place our faith?  How do we know if our heart and our daily efforts are centered on the right things that allow us to KEEP our faith?

I return to what I said in an earlier email.  If one feels calm and comforted in tumultuous times, you know you have placed your heart in the right place.  If you feel fear and anger you are being subjected to one of Satan’s greatest tools.  He uses fear to make us feel indecisive and lack confidence in the things that have sustained us in the past.

2.    (fifth paragraph)  In reference to Lehi’s dream:  “It is imperative to note that this mist of darkness descends on ALL of the travelers- the faithful and the determined ones (the elect, we might even say) as well as the weaker and ungrounded ones.  The principal point of this story is that the successful travelers resist all distractions, including the lure of forbidden paths and leering taunts from the vain and proud who have taken those paths.”

This caused me to think.  We in the church like to think that we are all holding to the rod (the word of God) by attending Church, paying our tithes, living a Christ like life.  And yet the mist creates darkness and confusion for EVERYONE.  It isn’t wrong that you and me would be confused by the events of the last few months in our country.  It IS confusing.  I thought for a few moments about these “distractions” that could cause one to let go of the rod.  How could a “distraction” be SO CONVINCING that it would cause one who is HOLDING on to ACTUALLY LET GO?  HOW does that happen?  How?  I think the answer is that it’s not obvious.  If the distraction came right up in to your face and said “I am pride, follow me.” Or “I am pornography, follow me.”  Or “I am Satan, follow me.”  It would be EASY to say “hey, wait a second, I have been warned of you!  Mr. Pride, Ms. Pornography.  I KNOW who you are.  I am NOT letting go of the rod.”  But that is NOT what we are talking about here.  President Holland calls them “distractions”.  In the most general definition a “distraction” is something that “divides our attention or causes us to lose concentration thru it’s amusement”.  

Clearly there are many things in this life that seem more amusing and entertaining that studying the word of God all the time.  I know I am often guilty of this.  

I do feel that the media (and I am NOT just pointing finger at Glenn Beck- the media in general is guilty) is a huge distractor.  It can be easy to justify that in order to be a good citizen we need to be educated and knowledgeable on current events.  But our media is slanted and it’s sole purpose is to make money. ( I will pick on Glenn when I tell you that he doesn’t’ care if you know the truth about history… he just wants to make sure that he makes some money in your effort to learn it. )And when we have lost our balance (my core value) we are distracted and it becomes harder and harder to distinguish between the word of God (which we read for a few minutes a day as part of our scripture study, and an hour or so a week on a lesson prep, and a couple of hours in Sunday worship) and the word of man (that infuses our house constantly if we let it.)
 

Agency and Obama and Will our Prophet Lead us?- March 2011

I am moving over some posts from an older blog- so the dates are going to be out of order.  This is actually from March 2011.

This particular one is an edited version of my response to an acquaintance about a whole myriad of Anti-Obama sentiment coming my way.

Our Prophet and our Church is not going to side with a political party.  

But the Church has a  history, even very recently, of being POLITICAL.  (ERA, abortion, Prop 8 etc.)   When there is a real danger in social issues- the Church speaks up- LOUDLY.   There is a HUGE difference in talking about/warning of POLITICAL issues and siding with a political party.  

Past prophets (though Ezra T. Benson gave his warnings against communism BEFORE he was a prophet) that you mentioned did indeed speak out against socialism and communism.  Communism would threaten our ability to practice our faith as we do.  It would be a HUGE concern to our leaders.  I am telling you- it's not on their radar because if it were- they would be warning of it.  President Monson wouldn't  have to say republican or democrat, tea party or Obama if he wanted to talk about communism.  And yet he hasn't. Not once.  Holland and Oaks have given some recent talks on BYU campuses in the last couple of years regarding the constitution, but that is as close as any prophet or apostle speaking about any of Glenn's [Beck] "issues".

I must ask myself why this is.  Instead President Monson has repeatedly advised us to be more compassionate and caring, to take better care of each other and serve more.  Instead, President Monson added a FOURTH mission of the Church- to care for the poor and needy- and NOT just those that are members of our Church.

The other thing I was going to address was from your initial message... regarding agency.  I believe this argument about Obama taking away our agency being like Satan's plan is FULL of flaws.  Did you feel your agency was reduced when your government  decided to fight a war in the middle east and fund it with taxpayer money?  (This was not Obama.)  Should I feel that my agency is reduced when my town increases property taxes to pay for our public schools?  Is my First Selectman in cahoots with Satan to take away my "agency"?  Why was this whole matter of "agency" and Satan's plan not an issue until it involved reformed healthcare for the poor?  Does that not seem ironic to you?  Wouldn't it be Satan who would encourage us to NOT care for others?  (Especially since it is in DIRECT opposition to what our prophet has said at every General Conference?)  

This "agency/Satan" argument I believe is attributed to Skousen.  Are you aware the that the Church made an official statement in 1979 to advise that Skousen/The Freeman Institute did NOT represent the views of the Church? 

Wanna know what Hugh Nibley (albeit not an apostle or a prophet, but an acclaimed LDS scriptural scholar) said about it?  In referring to "work ethic" one of the  "talking points of weathly":

"...the work ethic which is being so strenuously advocated in our day [1973]... is one of those neat magician's tricks in which all of our attention is focused on one hand while the other hand does the manipulating.  Implicit in the work ethic are the ideas 1) that because one must work to acquire wealth,work equals wealth, and 2) that that is the whole equation.  With these go the corollaries that anyone who has wealth must have earned it by hard work and is, therefore, beyond criticism; that anyone who doesn't have it deserves to suffer- thus penalizing anyone who doesn't work for money; and (since you have a right to all you earn) the only real work is for one's self; and, finally, any limit set to the amount of wealth an individual may acquire is a satanic device to deprive men of their free agency- thus making a mockery of the Council in Heaven.  These editorial syllogisms we have heard a thousand times [and now they are back!], but you will not find them in the scriptures."     

("What is Zion- a Distant View" Hugh Nibley.  Given as a talk entitled "Waiting for Zion" at BYU on 25 Feb 1973)

The RNC and Coming to Terms with Mitt

Biggest winner and my vote for GOP nominee in 2016 is Sister Oparowski.  She cracked me up.  What a hilarious couple.  Loved them.

Second best of the three nights goes to the wonderfully produced and highly persuasive video of Mitt.  It was lacking in a few areas (uhm, why was he coming home after being gone for a long time?  Insert- LDS mission.  Why did his parents live in Mexico when he was born?  Uh-just say polygamists.  I get why they were left out, it was just weird to understand it all and realize that others would just see it as huge gaps and wonder these things.)  That being said, it was really well done and made me like Mitt a lot more. (don’t stop reading here- you have to know the full story.)

Biggest loser- Clint Eastwood- what the crap was that?  Embarrassing.

Second biggest loser- Santorum.  I won’t bother you with the details of why I consider him to be one ginormous Pharisee… unless you want to know.  But you probably don’t.

My heart ached a bit for Ann- twice.  First, during her speech I felt she just wasn’t comfortable.  It just doesn’t seem like this is her thing.  I thought she did a great job overall.  Critics have called her a Stepford Wife but I think that when you combine an attractive woman who is well polished and put together and then add in a nervous laugh and somewhat stiff performance- that is what you get.  But I don’t know that she asked for this.  I don’t think it’s by design that she is not talking policy or politics.  It’s not her thing, so it’s better that she not.  But I just get the feeling that it’s SO NOT her thing that it kind of makes me feel bad for her.  In fact, last night as Romney walked in and was shaking hands and made his way to the front, CNN cameras kept going to her.  She looked sad.  If she wasn’t sad, she wasn’t happy.  Maybe she was just tired.  But for a second I thought I could hear her, “for years he was a Bishop and I sat alone, for years he was a Stake President and I attended our ward alone, and now he may become President of the US and I will be alone for the next four years.  There were many who hated his decisions as a Bishop, but half the US is going to hate his policies as President.”  I just get the feeling that she would rather just be hanging out in their home in NH with the grandkids and not have Mitt going around looking for all this responsibility.  Anyway- maybe I am wrong.

And Mitt.  Hmmm…  Here is the thing- he still hasn’t told us what he is going to do SPECIFICALLY about the debt- which is where he is putting all his eggs.  We know he intends to continue to spend on the military.  He says he will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (did you catch that- Replace?  Replace with what?  His health care plan?  Is it somehow a tremendous savings?)  He isn’t going to touch Medicare or Social Security.  He isn’t going to increase taxes of corporations, the wealthy or the middle class.  (He didn’t mention taxes for the poor either way, but I doubt that is his plan.)  It’s like me and Scott telling our kids we are bankrupt and have to make some BIG changes, some BIG sacrifices- but we are keeping the house and the utility bills (including cell phones and cable), keeping the cars, keeping our retirement plans, keeping our medical insurance etc- which are all very good things to keep.  And our BIG change is switching from Skippy to Jiff peanut butter to save money.  Okay- slightly exaggerated, but HOW exactly is he going to do all this and keep the commitments to these programs and our current tax structure?  Somewhere in there is an answer- and only Mitt knows it- it concerns me that he isn’t sharing it.  I hope it comes out in the debates.

Lastly, it became very clear to me this week why the GOP bothers me so greatly.   I hold the GOP to a higher standard than the Dems.  Why?  Because the GOP has wrapped their platform around religion, faith and morality.  That’s all fine and dandy- but if you are going to do that- then you need to go all the way.  You need to have integrity.  I will fully admit there are lies and devious and deceitful things said on both sides- but only the Right does it in the name of Christianity and that bothers me to my absolute core.  I have been a fence sitter regarding Mitt- giving him the benefit of the doubt for a long time.  He lost my vote when he selected Paul Ryan- but that’s another story for another time.  My disappointment in Mitt came this week when more than once he repeated the lie that Obama waived the work requirement for welfare.  Obama did not.  What he DID do, was grant the States the ability to submit their own State policies for the work requirement.  Of the 21 states that requested this waiver, Utah and Nevada were two of them.  Also, while Mitt was Governor of MA- he requested the same thing.  So it’s not like he was unfamiliar with how it works. He knows the truth and he CHOSE to repeat a lie. Not only that, but giving the option to the States falls in line with the mantra of the GOP- “small government, more agency!"  So Obama does just that and then has it twisted in to a lie about welfare reform.  It’s a small thing really in the larger spectrum of issues.  But for me, it was huge.  He knowingly lied to the public- I have a problem with that.

And so- that has caused me to come to terms with Mitt.  There are many, many, many good people in the Church who are trying their hardest, do their home teaching, pay their tithing and fast offerings, care for their neighbor- but MANY of those good people- I would NOT want to work with or have as a manager at work.  I think in the Gospel sometimes we need to separate the person who lives in the world from the person who is trying to live celestially- even though they both reside in the same human body.  Brother Romney is welcome to visit my ward and my home any day and I would love him and treat him kindly and we would likely become good chums- but on a professional level- I don’t like how he does “his job”. 

Redistribution of Wealth

A Commandment or a Sin?  (or neither)

8 June 2012

Over the last couple of years I have often heard LDS Conservatives speak of the “redistribution of wealth” in a derogatory manner and I have been baffled by their argument that it is part of “Satan’s plan”.  The present day issue that has stirred such talk is Obama’s Health Care Reform.

Health Care Reform was signed in to law in March 2010 despite those conservative members of congress who were opposed.    The United States ranks last among developed countries in overall healthcare for its citizens.  Health Care Reform is an attempt to improve the care available to all in the US.  How this is done exactly, or the efficiency of the plan is beyond the scope my understanding, I am just going to be honest about that- it's a big document with a lot of number crunching and medical legal talk that bores me.  However, it is assumed that it does come at a cost to its citizens- and that cost will be paid by a 3.8% tax on the “unearned income” of “high earners”.

High earners are being defined as:  Those whose tax filing status is “single” will be subject to the new unearned income taxes if they have Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of more than $200,000. Married couples filing a joint return with AGI of more than $250,000 will also be subject to the new tax.

Unearned income is the income that an individual derives from investing his/her capital. It includes capital gains, rents, dividends and interest income. It also comes from some investments in active businesses if the investor is not an active participant in the business. The portion of unearned income that is subject both to income tax and the new Medicare tax is the amount of income derived from these sources, reduced by any expenses associated with earning that income. (Hence the term “net” investment income.) 

Conservatives are calling this a “redistribution of wealth”- taking from the rich (“high earners”) and giving to the poor (the under insured and unemployed).   Perhaps it is.  However, LDS Conservatives are also calling it “part of Satan’s plan”.  Heavenly Father’s plan in pre-mortality was to allow each of His children to continue to use the gift of Agency.   Thereby coming to earth and gaining a body we could make choices- for good or for evil- but ultimately to be agents unto ourselves- responsible eternally for the choices we make on our own behalf.  Satan offered salvation for all without choices being necessary- promising that no one would “fail” as there would be no choices to make, and asked in return for all the honor to go to him. 

Agency is a Gospel Principle

Agency is a gospel principle.  President David O. McKay stated: “Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct our lives is God’s greatest gift to man. Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. … To man is given a special endowment, not bestowed upon any other living thing. God gave to him the power of choice. Only to the human being did the Creator say, ‘… thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; …” (Moses 3:17). Without this divine power to choose, humanity cannot progress” (“Man’s Free Agency—An Eternal Principle of Progress,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1965, 1073).  

We make a big deal of agency, and rightly so.  But I believe that applying the principle of agency to “redistribution of wealth” is a poor application at best.

Agency is an Eternal Law

It is God given and cannot be taken by another.  I think too often in the Church we use the words agency, freedom and liberty interchangeably.  This is not correct.  Personal freedoms and liberties can be limited by another individual, the environment in which we live or as a consequence to choices we have made in the past.  Agency cannot.  Agency is by its very nature and definition eternally linked with our spirits.  Synonymous with agency would be our conscious and the Light of Christ.

“This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come. Every intelligent being must have the power of choice” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 62). 

Therefore, this whole argument that I keep hearing from LDS Conservatives- that “new laws and taxes are Evil because they take away our (God Given and Eternal) Agency”- is completely erroneous.  It is such a misapplication of the Gospel Principle of Agency that I have to wonder if the Lord finds it offensive.  Would he not be offended that his covenanted Saints believe someone or something can take from them His Eternal Gift?

Is the taking of Freedoms a Sin?

Possibly, but I suppose this would depend on the motive for which the freedom is taken.  Most would agree that loss of freedoms is an appropriate consequence for those who have maliciously harmed another.  Furthermore, one’s choices are often limited in life because of poor choices they had made before.  (I cannot be a school teacher if I have a criminal record.  I cannot serve a mission if there are certain transgressions in my past.)

Is imposing a tax that presumably has consequences if not paid, a sin?  I suppose it depends on the purpose of the tax.  Here is where many will differ in their opinions of what things have value and are righteous as opposed to what things are not only a waste but a sin.  However, we are commanded in D&C to obey and honor the law of the land. 

However, as stated above, the tax increase has not caused a loss of agency, in fact- quite the opposite- one’s choices just became greater- will I pay the tax, or will I not (and thereby suffer the consequences)?

Seeking Answers thru Gospel Principles

When I was teaching seminary, I often found myself telling my class of basically good, righteous LDS teens “the challenge of your lifetime as far as the Gospel is concerned, is going to be sorting through and making the BEST choices”.   I would try to explain to them that as they get older and are faced with life’s toughest decisions the waters are going to become more and more murky.  The line between right and wrong, good and evil, will be harder and harder to decipher. 

Truth

We have to know how to apply TRUTH to our decisions.  D&C 93:24- "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come..."  God's Truths are eternal.  If we understand what these eternal truths are, they can be applied to anything.

Conflicting Gospel Truths

So what does one do when one feels there are conflicting truths?  This has happened since the beginning of mortality.  Adam and Eve were told to multiply and replenish the earth, yet they were also told to not partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In order to live one commandment, it was clear that they needed to break another. Traditional Christianity has translated the Adam and Eve story as a the Original Sin- The Fall of Man, for which we are all held responsible.  LDS see the Fall of Adam as one of the greatest choice ever made.

How do we “prioritize” gospel truths when faced with this issue?

Which is the Greater Commandment? 

In this case, the answer is clear for me.  In Mark 12:28-31 a scribe asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is.  Jesus responds, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all they strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.”  This makes it pretty clear.  Love the Lord and love others.  There is no other commandment greater than these-none.