Becoming One

I believe the two most important things we can learn in this life are to trust God and become one with our spouse.  Those are very difficult to accomplish.  And they are both difficult for many of the same reasons.  We are all broken.  We have trust issues resulting from our own life experiences as well as those stored in our DNA from generations past.  Perhaps we had difficult childhoods and trust was hard to come by.  Abuse, broken marriages, either our own or ancestral; so many stories and reasons and justifications for our not being able to trust reinforce the belief that we can’t trust anyone.  Even those we thought of as friends, being part of a like minded group where, because we say we are working at becoming one we thought we were safe to trust.  But then people we thought we could trust turn on us, accuse us and sometimes as a result we have a difficult time trusting.  Like the Kenny Chesney song “Can’t we all get along?”  We have to be able to put that all the experiences in our lives that teach us not to trust in the past if we are to learn to become the people we need to be.  We have to learn to trust each other and learn to trust God. We have to turn away from those beliefs that we can’t trust Christ (because that is a lie the adversary teaches) and turn toward Christ who loves us.  It may be most difficult to do that within a marriage but that is part of the reason for a marriage is to practice.

Many of us also deal with anger issues that find their way to the surface especially around those we love the most (perhaps because of our anger our loved ones find it hard to trust us). When I was a younger man I dealt with anger issues.  Who knows where it came from but I was, at times, very short with my two oldest children.  When my wife had a physical and emotional collapse as a result of a brainstem tear (from two car accidents), I went through much of the same alternative healing processes that she did.  I was able to release much of my anger and as a result I was a much different father with our youngest two children than I was with the oldest two. When we say “that’s just the way I am” that is a cop-out, we can change, we can become better if we choose.

 In the Answer for the Prayer for Covenant (section 157 in the T&C) The Lord admonishes us to be better, and promises that He will labor with us to get us there.  “For the sake of the promises to the fathers will I labor with you as a people, and not because of you, for you have not yet become what you must be to live together in peace.” (T&C 157:19) This section is replete with instruction on how to be better people.  I want to narrow the focus down to one relationship, husband and wife.  All of these instructions should be practiced between spouses first to truly learn how to love others.

I’m going to go on a rant here for a minute.  From our vantage point (not that it is an advantage, but it is a point from which we view the world around us) we see so many people we love struggling and being wounded. Husbands love your wife like your life depends on it (your eternal life does.  Be her safe haven where she can truly learn to trust because she knows nothing will ever come from your mouth or your behavior that will cause her any sort of pain.  Same for wives, always be supporting and uplifting.  As Coach Vince Lombardi once said “it is better to have a good offense than a good defense, and vice-versa.”  Also, we are so imperfect that we can never come from a place where we have a right to criticize anyone or anyone’s actions or what they believe and write. Knock it off and straighten up. To quote the Lord in section 93 of the D&C/T&C “what I say to one, I say to all.” I include myself so that I may not be accused of hypocrisy.

I think we all understand that we are broken and wounded, but perhaps we don’t understand how our wounds effect how we interact with others, especially our spouse.  The Lord said: “You have all been wounded, your hearts pierced through with sorrows because of how the world has treated you. But you have also scarred one another by your unkind treatment of each other (spouse), and you do not notice your misconduct toward others because you think yourself justified in this. You bear the scars on your countenances, from the soles of your feet to the head, and every heart is faint. Your visages have been so marred that your hardness, mistrust, suspicions, resentments, fear, jealousies, and anger toward your fellow man bear outward witness of your inner self; you cannot hide it. When I appear to you, instead of confidence, you feel shame. You fear and withdraw from me because you bear the blood and sins of your treatment of brothers and sisters (your spouse). Come to me and I will make sins as scarlet become white as snow, and I will make you stand boldly before me, confident of my love. (T&C 157:49)(the italicized parenthetical are added by me for emphasis)

I would like to share an experience I recently had while meditating.  I know I have mentioned this before, but for clarification, when I meditate I send my spirit to find the Lord.  So, I sent my spirit to find the Lord and found Him in the treasure room.  (There have been others who have written blogs and articles about treasures in Heaven.)  Anyway, we were in the treasure room and it was vast.  I asked the Lord the purpose of this room? He said “this is where the treasures you accumulate by your good works, deeds, your obedience, thoughts, kindnesses, etc., the things you do and think that help others lighten their burdens, those things are recorded here.”  As I looked around there were names on the shelves. Among the shelves assigned to each name there were empty sections and full sections, some shelves were full to overflowing and others were empty and had dust on them. Mine was definitely not full, but fortunately not empty ether. There is still plenty of room for me to fill my shelves with good.

Here are a few more reminders of what the Lord is asking of us today, that we may be of greater service to Him tomorrow.

“Flee from the cares and longings that belong to Babylon, obtain a new heart, for you have all been wounded.” (T&C 157:51)

“Be of one heart, and regard one another with charity. Measure your words before giving voice to them, and consider the hearts of others.” (T&C 157:53)

“Study to learn how to respect your brothers and sisters and to come together by precept, reason, and persuasion, rather than sharply disputing and wrongly condemning each other, causing anger.” (T&C 157:54)

THE LORD LOVES YOU!

 

Remove Babylon from your heart by releasing Core Beliefs

For most of us we think of Babylon as being the economic and materialistic world.  We think that if we can get out of the city and on some land, grow our own food, raise animals, and be off the grid, we can escape Babylon. This may be true to a degree but we still have to buy the land, provide a dwelling of some sort to live in, purchase the seeds, buy equipment, perhaps pay some utility bills, pay taxes on the land, etc. which all requires income or savings.  All of those things are still part of Babylon. Until Zion is built and the Lord’s economy is instituted there will be essentials to buy and bills to pay. Being away from the cities is a great thing for those who can pull it off, however, it is not possible for most of us yet, so how do we get out of Babylon?  What if we don’t get out of Babylon but get Babylon out of us?

We have been raised in a Babylonian world.  All institutions have Babylonian beliefs and principles at their core.  It has been so since the flood.  If Babylon is interwoven into everything around us what can we do to live God’s command to get out of Babylon. It seems to me that perhaps our biggest challenge are the core beliefs that have been drummed into us by the very fabric of our society, that are buried deep in our consciousness and inform our lives.  In the T&C section 157 the 51^st paragraph the Lord tells us to “Flee from the cares and longings that belong to Babylon”.  I wonder if those “cares and longings” stem from our core beliefs. You may be asking yourself, “What in the world is he talking about?”  That would be a good question.  How do you identify your own core beliefs?  For example, after Nephi had returned from being “carried away in the spirit” he came upon his brothers contending about what their father had told them regarding the parable of the Olive Tree.  Nephi’s response to them is very informative on the subject we are discussing here.  He asked, “…Have ye inquired of the Lord?  And they said unto me, We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” (1 Nephi  4:2 RE; 1 Nephi 15:8-9 LE) There are at least two gems we can glean from this example.  First, can you see the inherent lie in their response?  “The Lord talks to prophets and such not to me!”   The second is in the very question Nephi asks.  The Lord loves us beyond anything we can imagine, and He will reveal whatever we need if we will just ask, listen and are patient.  There is of course the caveat that we should be following His path by living the commandments.  But that comes down to choices.  The lie that the Lord wont’ talk to us is a core belief  that greatly limits our ability to progress.

Let’s look at three core beliefs that we all struggle with to some degree.  They are 1) I’m not good enough, 2) I’m not loveable, and 3) I’m not worthy.  Those are lies that the world, society, and the adversary tell us. We reinforce those lies in our children and those around us in phrases like: you are so stupid, what a dumb thing to do, what is wrong with you, etc. etc. Words have power.  I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on these but let’s look at them a little closer.

1)      “I’m not good enough.”  You could also say “I’m not smart enough”, this is one of the hardest beliefs to release. We all make mistakes, we all do things that we wish we hadn’t. It’s just part of life, perhaps even an essential part of life.  We have a mechanism the Lord provides for us to overcome sin, shortcomings, mistakes, even poor choices, and even personality traits that may not be in alignment with who we want to be.  The Lord has given us the repentance process where we can ask for forgiveness and help to overcome.  We have to put in the effort to change to become more like our Savior, but He is very patient. The saying “that’s just the way I am” is pure horse-pucky.  It means you are not willing to change.  As long as you are working at following the Lord’s commandments and repenting, you are always good enough.

2)      “I’m not loveable.”  The Lord loves you! People can be fickle. Society places often unreasonable expectations upon us, but no matter what, the Lord loves you.  As-a-matter-of-fact you are so precious to Him that He suffered the atonement and death upon the cross, which was so excruciating that a regular mortal man could not have endured it.  He did that for you! You are loveable.  The Lord gave us two great commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  In the second part it is implicit that we love ourselves, which can often be the hardest part.

3)      “I’m not worthy.”  We often think that worthiness has to do with how well we follow rules and commandments, but it is not that at all.  Worthy is to be “fitted for”, “made for”, “prepared for”.  We have been prepared for this life before we came here.  So we are prepared for anything that comes our way.  We were created by Heavenly Parents who love us and have provided a path for us to follow to return to them through our Redeemer.  All of our life experiences from wonderful to excruciating have been for our growth, to prepare us for more.  We are all worthy!

A couple of posts ago I included an excerpt from the journal of my friend, Sarah, about what the Lord had been teaching her. I would like to expand on some of the things the Lord told Sarah from that previous blog post.  He said “You shrink from me because you have been taught according to the economy of Babylon. Things such as; failure is not allowed and a reason to feel shame…”    First of all we need to have a better understanding of what success is, because in the world anything short of success (wealth, power, fame) is failure. I think the Lord’s definition would be more like “…this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39 LE, Gen 1:7 RE)  Now I am going out on a limb, but in my mind the Lord is not concerned with our financial success or how much power or influence we have, and not really even concerned with our occupation.  He is more concerned with us following the path (the example set by His Only Begotten Son) to get back to His presence.  Our path is paved with the stones of what we learn from our experiences, both successes and failures, and the very next stone to be laid is what we should have learned.

Another core belief is that we deserve justice, at least justice from our own point of view. During my senior year in High School I had a friend, she was a junior, who (while I was on a mission for the LDS church) was killed by a drunk driver.  Her father, who was a stake president and a really good man, went to the jail where the man was being held and told him that he forgave him.  The world would and did demand justice, this man should rot in jail.  For the father, however, it was not justice that this man deserved it was mercy and a sense that he was forgiven by this father and could be forgiven by our Father for the tragic result of his irresponsible actions.  When we see something wrong or we are wronged, by damn someone should pay.  When something goes wrong in our lives we need to have someone to blame because it is never our fault.  Just as this father, we should seek forgiveness and mercy for ourselves and others involved.  After all gaining forgiveness and mercy is the reason for the Atonement of our Lord.

All of these core beliefs, and many others, are lies promoted by the adversary designed to keep us from seeing who we are in the eyes of the Lord.  One of the most heinous lies and most challenging is that you are alone; ”No one knows what I am going through”.  That is a main part of the atonement, that our Lord would know specifically how to succor each of us as we go through life’s trials tribulations, and challenges.

Some additional core beliefs:  you have to earn everything you get, there is no equality—you are the best or you are nothing, we have to earn God’s love to be redeemed.  There are probably others that you may be able to come up with.  The next question that should come to our minds is, how do we now release those core beliefs?

There are many ways to accomplish the release of core beliefs, however, may I suggest some thoughts that have been rattling around my brain?  Even though these may not be categorized as sin (although they are lies) perhaps repentance is an appropriate process. That may sound trite but let me expand my thoughts.  Let’s look at the core belief “I am not loveable”.

1.        Repent—identify the belief, action or thought.  Ask the Lord to forgive you for harboring this lie.

2.       Find some lessons that you have learned or positive behaviors adopted as a result of believing this lie (there are always positives sometimes it takes some deep thought and reflection to identify them) and express gratitude for the lessons learned.

3.       Forgive all those in your life who have reinforced the belief and forgive yourself for all of the thoughts, actions and behaviors that reinforced that lie.

4.       Replace the lie with a positive belief, in this example it would be something like “I am loveable!” And turn toward Christ.

The Lord loves you!

 

Come Unto Me

“Then spoke Jesus, saying, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavily loaded, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 6:8 RE; Matt. 11:28-30 LE)  The Lord has asked us to “Come Unto Him”, what does He mean by that?

I think sometimes it is easy to believe the Lord is being figurative in His invitation, however, when reading the following excerpt from the Teachings and Commandments we gain a little more clarity.  “The Book of Mormon is to convince the gentiles, and a remnant of Lehi, and the Jews, of the truth of the words of my ancient prophets and apostles, with all the records agreeing that I am the Lamb of God, the Son of the Father, and I was sent into the world to do the will of the Father, and I am the Savior of the world. All must come unto me or they cannot be saved. And how do men come unto me? It is by faith, repentance, and baptism, which bring the holy ghost, to then show you all things you must know.

 If the gentiles, unto whom the Book of Mormon was given, had hearkened unto the holy ghost, they would have come unto me in Hyrum and Joseph’s day. But they did not hearken, and would not allow me to abide with them in word, and in power, and in very deed.” (T&C 157:21-22)

The Lord instructs us to “come unto me” through “faith, repentance, and baptism, which bring the holy ghost, to then show you all things you must know.” What do we need to know?  Perhaps it is to know how to hearken to the Holy Ghost so that we can allow the Lord to abide with us in word, power and very deed.  Those in Joseph and Hyrum’s day were given what the Lord wanted them to do, and to be, but they would not hearken, therefore missed the opportunity presented to them to build Zion.

The Lord further instructs us: “Be of one heart, and regard one another with charity. Measure your words before giving voice to them, and consider the hearts of others. Although a man may err in understanding concerning many things, yet he can view his brother with charity and come unto me, and through me he can with patience overcome the world. I can bring him to understanding and knowledge. Therefore, if you regard one another with charity, then your brother’s error in understanding will not divide you. I lead to all truth. I will lead all who come to me to the truth of all things. The fullness is to receive the truth of all things, and this too from me, in power, by my word, and in very deed. For I will come unto you if you will come unto me. “ (T&C 157:53) If we can somehow at this time listen, do and be what the Lord is instructing us we have the opportunity to receive the fullness, to receive the truth of all things, and to have Him abide with us in power, word and deed. In order to have Him come unto us individually and collectively we need to turn toward Him and each day walk in His path and think His thoughts while letting go of the distractions of this world.

I think sometimes we have overlooked the word “deed” in the scriptures.  A deed is an action, something that you do.  I think the Lord is telling us that He will abide with us in person. So when He says “in very deed”,   I think He means right there with us physically.  

“And behold, I have given unto you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you and the law is fulfilled. Therefore, come unto me and be ye saved. For verily I say unto you that except ye shall keep my commandments which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” (3 Nephi 5:23 RE; 3 Nephi  12:19-20 LE)  The Lord has given us all that we need.  I think as soon as we as a covenant people can listen and obey what He has given us we will then be eligible to receive more.  But it may be a vain effort to want and ask for more until we are humble and contrite and are individually received into His presence.

Let’s take a look at how the phrase “come unto me” is used in other situations.  Perhaps that will give us some additional insight into what the Lord is really asking us to do.  In 1^st Nephi we see how Lehi used the phrase to beckon to his family to partake of the fruit that was “desirable above all other fruit”. “And as I partook of the fruit thereof, it filled my soul with exceeding great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also… I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi, and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go. And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit. And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also. And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore, I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river that perhaps I might see them. And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.” (1 Nephi 2:9 RE; 1 Nephi 12:18 LE)  Lehi wanted his family to come to the place where he was standing.  We sometimes think that we may be able to be in Christ’s presence sometime in our existence but the Lord means for us to be in His presence now.

“And they brought unto him also infants, that he might touch them; but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them and said, Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 10:9 RE; Luke 18:15-16 LE) What do we learn? The Lord is inviting us just as He did the little children, to come unto Him that He may bless us and physically touch us and be close to us.

Elsewhere in the book of Corinthians we see Paul talking to those in Corinth expressing his desire that they welcome Timothy if he comes to their town and then assist him to come to where Paul would be.  “Now if Timothy come, see that he may be with you without fear, for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren. (1 Corinthians 1:17 RE; 1 Corinthians 16:10-11 LE) These invitations from Lehi, Jesus, and Paul are directives to come to where they are in the flesh and personally.  Obviously we cannot just go stand in the Lord’s presence we must be invited.  However, by faith, repentance, baptism and then doing as the Holy Ghost directs us, we demonstrate our readiness and willingness to be in His presence.

In section 93 of the T&C (also section 93 in the D&C) the Lord has instructions for us: “It shall come to pass that every soul who forsakes their sins, and comes unto me, and calls on my name, and obeys my voice, and keeps all my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am…”  Later in the same section He clarifies: “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fullness,…” (T&C 93:1,7; D&C 93 1:19 LE) Throughout the scriptures the Lord is pleading with us to come to Him in thought and very deed.   I think I would like to explore some of the depth on section 93 of the T&C in my next blog.

 

Babylon

For years there has been talk about fleeing Babylon, we are not of the world but in the world, etc. And today as there is speculation and talk about the impending coming of the Lord and the building of the New Jerusalem, there is again focus on the idea of fleeing Babylon.  I think, however, that we don’t have a very complete understanding of what Babylon is.  We are under the assumption that if we have property somewhere and grow our own food and raise our own meat that we have left Babylon.  But what about the power we use, the food storage we buy, the furniture we use, the taxes we pay, do we use a phone, or watch tv?  All of that is part of Babylon.  But, there is a much more deeply ingrained aspect to Babylon that we often don’t thing about.

My friend Sarah shared with our Fellowship some things she has been struggling with and pondering on. With her permission, I would like to share with you some of what the Lord had taught her and I think this is a great expose into the depth of Babylon that we must leave behind.

“It is because of the false teachings of Babylon that you are so hard on yourself, and cannot accept the unconditional love that I offer to you. You shrink from me because you have been taught according to the economy of Babylon. Things such as; you have to earn everything that you get, and have to prove yourself; failure is not allowed, and a reason to feel shame -even your perspective on what constitutes success vs. failure and perfection vs. imperfection are not correct. You have been taught that weaknesses and flaws are unacceptable, and make you un-loveable; and that appearances must be kept for everyone else’s pleasure and comfort. You have been taught that you have to be the best, and if you’re not, you are at the bottom; inequality is the normal pattern, and all must compete. In Babylon faith is scorned, and I am viewed as distant, not approachable; full of wrath, anger, and punishment. You have been taught justice must be served, rather than compassion and mercy being extended. You have been taught that repentance is hard, that you deserve to suffer, and a deep sense of inner shame, and that by feeling those things, you somehow redeem yourself.

 

Because of this, you are in a constant barter system with me based upon the economy of Babylon, and you do not understand the economy of God. You have adapted the program of doing, hoping that in the doing, you can earn my love and a place in my kingdom, using an impossible measure of perfection to decide if you are worthy, when what I ask of you is a broken and pure heart, a contrite spirit, and for you to have righteous intentions and desires, even if your actions sometimes fall short. You don’t know how to love yourself, so you decide by default that I don’t love you. It causes the Heavens to weep.

 

The construct of Babylon is so far reaching and so destructive to my ways, it is truly a design of Satan to keep my children from hope and belief in me, and distracted from all things that really matter. It has infiltrated every aspect of your existence, and after generation upon generation of this corruption, it is in your very DNA. You make Satan’s lies your truth, and are miserable like unto himself. I offer freedom from those chains, but you must learn of me and deconstruct Babylon. In so doing, you flee from those cares and longings.”

 

Sarah continues: “Again, those were my own words to try and explain what the Lord has been teaching me, for lack of a better way to express what has come to my mind. And it all makes so much sense! The more I contemplate the structure we have been in and all of the rules of our completely corrupt society, the more I see how foreign the ways of God must truly be to us, and how it is so hard to wrap our brain around how far we are from where God intends. It also makes sense that He would be willing to exercise a great amount of patience knowing that we have a lot of work to do to get away from the traditions of our fathers and become the type of people that could help to establish Zion.”

 

I appreciate Sarah being willing to share with us the very personal things the Lord has been teaching her.  Babylon has infiltrated the very way we think, process information, make choices and decisions, and perceive the world around us. For example, I love sports.  I think there are things that we learn in sports that are much more difficult to learn elsewhere.  In sports we can learn that decisions can have immediate consequences, that if we work hard our skills will improve, and especially in team sports we learn the benefits and joys of team work.  But sports are so tied up in competition.  To be successful you have to win, if you win you are better than those that lost, they are inferior.  Today it has become so commonplace to “trash talk,” in other words you are putting someone down by the words you are saying in order to gain an advantage.  So, it is ok to lie and mock?  We see the same in business and even in casual conversation.

The Lord has given us instruction about getting out of Babylon, but it is as much about reintroducing the concept of purity of heart to the world as it is getting rid of Babylon in our hearts and in our behaviors.  “Hearken, O you people of my church, says the Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord concerning you… prepare yourselves, prepare yourselves, O you my people, sanctify yourselves, gather yourselves together, O you people of my church upon the land of Zion, all you that have not been commanded to tarry. Go out from Babylon, be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Call your solemn assemblies and speak often one to another, and let every man call upon the name of the Lord.

Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go out of Babylon, gather yourselves out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other. Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off, unto the islands of the sea. Send forth unto foreign lands, call upon all nations, firstly upon the gentiles and then upon the Jews. And behold and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about. Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Behold and lo, the Bridegroom comes, go out to meet him; prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Let them therefore which are among the gentiles flee unto Zion, and let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord’s house. Go out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon. But verily thus says the Lord: Let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goes, let him not look back, lest sudden destruction shall come upon him. (T&C 58:1-2 RE; D&C 133:1-15 LE)

Not only is the Lord inviting us to flee “from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon” , but He is telling us to be Zion and to invite all people to also be Zion.  I know there are many who read the scriptures quoted above and think the Lord is telling us to send missionaries to encourage people to come to the land of America but I think the Lord is inviting all to become a Zion people to be prepared to “meet the Bridegroom”.  A lot has been written about the 10 virgins and what the 5 who were able to go meet the bridegroom had verses the 5 that were left out.  There is much to be internalized in those writings about where we should be spiritually.  We must have a personal connection with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the answer to the prayer for covenant the Lord instructs us that His “peace” is how we release the bindings of Babylon.  “Now, hear the words of the Lord to those who receive this covenant this day:  All you who have turned from your wicked ways and repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms, and of secret abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying, and strife, and from all wickedness and abominations, and have come unto me, and been baptized in my name, and have received a remission of your sins, and received the Holy Ghost, are now numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel… And I, the Lord your God, will be with you and will never forsake you, and I will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the troubling season now fast approaching.”  (T&C 158:9-10,12 RE)

Denver talks about a new society: “The Lord is equal to the challenge. He will establish a new civilization. It will be founded on the fullness of His gospel. Lost truths will be restored. The path of righteousness will be returned.  Society is broken. Everywhere we see corrupt cultures based on corrupt laws, corrupt religions, corrupt values, and ultimately corrupt thought. Beginning again requires re-civilizing people. To be free from corruption requires a change in thinking.” (Denver Snuffer “Civilization” talk 2018)

The Lord has given us a recipe for how we should behave toward one another.  “Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen, and why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson — that the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the Powers of Heaven…. No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood; 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… your bowels also being full of charity toward all men, and to the household of faith; and virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly. Then shall your confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrines of the Priesthood shall distill upon your soul as the dews from heaven. The holy ghost shall be your constant companion, and your scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth, and your dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto you for ever and ever.” (T&C 139:5-6 RE; D&C121:34-36, 41-46 LE)  The attributes listed above are the opposite of what Babylon encourages. In fact one would be ridiculed for employing any of them among current society.

I would like to take a moment and share my personal definitions of the above highlighted attributes: persuasion, presenting reasoned and documented thoughts; long-suffering, allowing someone to have their own ideas and live according to their own beliefs; gentleness, being softspoken and cognoscente of another’s feelings; meekness, choosing to have peace rather than needing to be right, not disputing; love unfeigned, your love doesn’t change based on behavior; kindness, being considerate of others; pure knowledge, that knowledge and understanding that only comes directly and personally from the Lord; charity, being able to see someone as the Lord sees them; virtue, doing good for the sake of goodness.

In summary, we come out of Babylon by leaving behind the behaviors, attitudes, world view, and perceptions associated with Babylon and adopt the behaviors and attitudes associated with Zion, namely those listed above and by seeking the gift of peace the Lord is offering. Is this an easy task, no, but this is what the Lord has asked us to do.