"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
I like the idea of being able to live this way... "every man did deal justly one with another" just blows my mind. I think that we can sometimes come close to that in some contexts, but in so many others, we are so far away it is hard to imagine. Also the idea of there not being rich and poor, and a very different ideal regarding ownership, which sounds more like everyone being responsible for the betterment of society rather than just watching out for your own stuff. ... And not in a way that we have seen actually practiced in any nation on earth where there is certainly still vast disparity, but in the Lord's way, where it actually works, which is also hard to imagine. I think a lot of disparity is baked into the way that we look at the world. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that God said that we had to become like little children... because there are so many ways of looking at things that we have to *unlearn* before we can truly learn the Lord's way.
God is preparing us to live in a cool society like this... which is what heaven must be, right? As we learn the gospel better, let's keep an eye out for things that will help us unlearn the bad and learn the good... finding ways to share with one another and to support and love rather than to doubt and fear. Let's learn to put God first and be open to his teaching, and someday we'll be able to get a taste of what it would have been like to live as they did in these verses. :)
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
I like the idea of being able to live this way... "every man did deal justly one with another" just blows my mind. I think that we can sometimes come close to that in some contexts, but in so many others, we are so far away it is hard to imagine. Also the idea of there not being rich and poor, and a very different ideal regarding ownership, which sounds more like everyone being responsible for the betterment of society rather than just watching out for your own stuff. ... And not in a way that we have seen actually practiced in any nation on earth where there is certainly still vast disparity, but in the Lord's way, where it actually works, which is also hard to imagine. I think a lot of disparity is baked into the way that we look at the world. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that God said that we had to become like little children... because there are so many ways of looking at things that we have to *unlearn* before we can truly learn the Lord's way.
God is preparing us to live in a cool society like this... which is what heaven must be, right? As we learn the gospel better, let's keep an eye out for things that will help us unlearn the bad and learn the good... finding ways to share with one another and to support and love rather than to doubt and fear. Let's learn to put God first and be open to his teaching, and someday we'll be able to get a taste of what it would have been like to live as they did in these verses. :)
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