"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."
4 Nephi 1:2-3
This is a really cool time in the scriptures... one of those times when everything was good, and things were working perfectly with everyone involved. That doesn't happen a lot in life. City of Enoch (Zion) and this are the only examples I can think of. And how did it happen, in both cases? It was everyone serving the Lord, letting go of their own selfish desires and committing to assist and love other people. It's such a basic thing--putting the group ahead of the individual, others ahead of ourselves--but we have a really hard time putting it into practice. Too often, we want to get ahead, take that one step that makes us the winner and everyone else the losers. We'd rather hoard all of our cool stuff than share with others.
Today we're not ready to live in a communal society where we share everything... but we can start getting ready by noticing the needs of the people around us. We can do little things like remembering to smile at people, and learn their names. We can listen to other people's ideas before expounding on our own. We can give, and lift, and love. And as we do, we'll be blessed more and more with many heavenly gifts... joy, and peace, and communion with the spirit, and a sense of belonging, being able to feel safe and secure, and trust that things will be okay. And eventually we'll get to the ultimate heavenly gift as they did here, unity and oneness with God and Christ and all of his followers. A Zion society, where everyone works together and loves each other: something to look forward to: something to build.
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."
4 Nephi 1:2-3
This is a really cool time in the scriptures... one of those times when everything was good, and things were working perfectly with everyone involved. That doesn't happen a lot in life. City of Enoch (Zion) and this are the only examples I can think of. And how did it happen, in both cases? It was everyone serving the Lord, letting go of their own selfish desires and committing to assist and love other people. It's such a basic thing--putting the group ahead of the individual, others ahead of ourselves--but we have a really hard time putting it into practice. Too often, we want to get ahead, take that one step that makes us the winner and everyone else the losers. We'd rather hoard all of our cool stuff than share with others.
Today we're not ready to live in a communal society where we share everything... but we can start getting ready by noticing the needs of the people around us. We can do little things like remembering to smile at people, and learn their names. We can listen to other people's ideas before expounding on our own. We can give, and lift, and love. And as we do, we'll be blessed more and more with many heavenly gifts... joy, and peace, and communion with the spirit, and a sense of belonging, being able to feel safe and secure, and trust that things will be okay. And eventually we'll get to the ultimate heavenly gift as they did here, unity and oneness with God and Christ and all of his followers. A Zion society, where everyone works together and loves each other: something to look forward to: something to build.
No comments:
Post a Comment