Three Spiritual Gifts

 1^aAnd there shall come forth a ^brod out of the ^cstem of ^dJesse, and a ^eBranch shall grow out of his roots: 2And the ^aspirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of^bwisdom and ^cunderstanding, the spirit of ^dcounsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
- Isaiah 11:1-2

The three gifts are ones that we can earnestly seek after. Note that these gifts come in pairs. 

This prophesy by Isaiah specifically refers to the Lord, Jesus Christ, who would be born of the lineage of King David. The spiritual gifts given him from "the spirit of the LORD" were exemplified in his life and still continue as he judges the earth.

• Wisdom and Understanding
• Counsel and Might
• Knowledge and the fear of the Lord

How do these pairings complement each other? Let's look at them individually, and apply them to the situations we face in our day.

Wisdom and Understanding

The Lord blessed Solomon "with wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore." (1 Kings 4:29)

To fully magnify the blessing of wisdom and understanding, one must have largeness of heart. They must have pity and empathy for their fellow man. They must not seek their own glory, but to reach out to help others. Understanding the context of a person's situation allows empathy to grow. Wisdom comes from placing in context information and understanding, and making choices that do not require the heartbreak of unfortunate experience.

There are times where we are called to pass through trials for our own understanding. These help us to gain context for learning. Then we can apply this learning to the next time we come across a similar context. Then it becomes wisdom.

Can we see wisdom in our day? Certainly not in the bloated tide of popular culture. It sweeps everything in its path that is not firmly rooted to that which is unchangeable. Pillars of wisdom and understanding on not publicized, but we all know someone who fits this description.

Counsel and Might

Where one is put in a position of influence and power, there comes with that the responsibility of counsel. Power is not given for self-aggrandizement, though that is the example most often seen. Power is given to help others from that position. Often the power given is not public power, though the expectation is still the same - help those who stand in need of your help.

Where good counsel is given, there comes a spirit of power. If a person tells truth and gives honest opinion without posturing for their own position, there comes to them a power, a steadiness of character, that cannot be shaken from without.

It is rare in this age to see counsel and might coupled together. The person who exhibits these two traits together clearly defines themselves as a person to be trusted. Their word is good. In a world where one idle word can make a man into a pariah, knowing that a person's word is good is priceless.

Knowledge and the fear of the Lord

There is more knowledge on the earth right now than at any time before in its history. There are very intelligent people alive today. There have been knowledgeable people in every age. The New Testament describes the deterioriating situation in the last days, our days, as follows:

"Ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."
(2 Timothy 3:7)

Why can men not obtain a knowledge of the truth? In these days where information is available like never before, why do men not learn? It is because of the second part of this coupled gift - the fear of the Lord.

Fear means respect. Do men respect the Lord? Do men acknowledge God, in whose image they are created? Is there reverence in the public square? Is anything sacred anymore?

Where there is piety, there will be knowledge. If a man respects God, no matter what his level of education, he will have knowledge that matters. Life is simple. The world is complex. Truth is not merely the gospel, but all truth that can be obtained through learning.

Secure in its own power, the world is not going to change. If we want to see change, it must first happen within us. These three coupled spiritual gifts are things we can earnestly seek after. They will come to us in the time of the Lord, as we are diligent. Diligence is key. If we want these gifts, which come in pairs in their most powerful manifestations, we must consistently move forward. Incremental improvement is our goal. Incremental eternal improvement.

Let Your Light So Shine Before Men

The Admonition from the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount to let our light shine to the world is one that still holds great weight today. To fully understand what is required of us to let our light shine, we will examine a number of scriptures that relate to the parts of this admonition.

Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV)

14 Ye are the alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a acandle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your alight so shine before men, that they may see your good bworks, and cglorify your Father which is in heaven.

“Ye are the light of the world”

Light is truth (D&C 84:45).

45 For the aword of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is blight, and whatsoever is light is cSpirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Light and truth forsake the evil one.

36 The aglory of God is bintelligence, or, in other words, clight and truth.

37 Light and truth forsake that aevil one. (D&C 93:36-37)

When the scriptures use the word World it means people or humanity. The word earth means the actual planet.

“A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.”

A city is a gathering place. A place of organization.

“On a hill” - a defensible position.

Mountains are symbolic in many cultures, and in the scriptures especially, of the meeting of heaven and earth. Mountains are symbolic of Temples, where God can communicate with Man.

Hills are less than mountains, but still above the earth.

Keep in mind that Sodom and Gomorrah were known as two of the “Cities of the Plain” (see Genesis 19:25-29).

“Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel”

“The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” (Prov. 20:27 emphasis added)

Hebrew tradition is that thoughts emanate from the heart, and feelings (or emotions) come from the bowels, or the belly.

So another way to say the proverb above is to say that the Spirit of Man becomes the shared Light from the Lord, searching (or pondering and understanding) and enlightening the innermost feelings.

A bushel is a unit of measurement. We can interpret this as a container or a basket of a certain size to measure grain. Grain is the staff of life or the requirements of worldly survival.

When the Light of Truth from the Lord gives enlightenment and understanding to thoughts and emotions, the physical requirements of the world cannot hide or overcome that Light.

Remember Parley P. Pratt reading The Book of Mormon for the first time.

“I opened it with eagerness, and read its title page. I then read the testimony of several witnesses in relation to the manner of its being found and translated. After this I commenced its contents by course. I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.

“As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 20).

(Book of Mormon Student Manual - http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/bm-in-sm1996/manualindex.asp)

“But on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”

Candlesticks are witnesses. There are two candlesticks mentioned in Revelation 11:4, and seven candlesticks in Revelation 2. (see also Bible Dictionary: Candlestick)

In the Old Testament, the candlestick in the Temple of the Lord was of beaten gold, all in one piece. It included several components, but they were all crafted from the same piece of gold (see Exodus 25:31-37). There were no seams.  It was not several pieces, crafted separately and then brought together; it was of one piece. We can interpret this symbolically, “That which gives Light is not divided, but is one.”

To give light or truth to all who are in the house is to continually share truth and understanding and enlightenment with those who are closest to you.

“Let your light so shine before men”

This is the admonition from the Savior to let your light, or the light of truth which has place in you, so shine before men.

Be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (see Romans 1:16) .

“That they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in Heaven.”

Already you are not hidden. They (the world, those around you) know who you are, and they know what you are. Do good, that they may be brought to know the truth, or, barring that, know that you know the truth.

In this way our Heavenly Father is glorified. His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all men (Moses 1:39).

This starts with a single light shining in the darkness, awakening that divine spark in those who are asleep.

Equality = Equalness?

The cry for equality sounds loudly and clearly from both sides of the aisle right now.

"The claim to equality, outside the strictly political field, is made only by those who feel themselves to be in some way inferior."

--The Screwtape Letters

 Equality under the law has one meaning, Constitutionally-derived. Equalness has a very different connotation. Equalness is used here as the antithesis of Equality. They are two very different terms.
Equalness draws its power from the illegitimate use of the word "fairness". If one person claims that something is not fair, than it must not be equal. Fairness is unfortunately a subjective term. Equalness results from fairness. Fairness in the current political dialogue means equality in outcome, which cannot be legislated, forced or adjudicated.
If one person has more through his own industry and thrift, should he be required under the law to give up the fruits of his labors that the slothful should have an equal amount? Such is not fair from the perspective of the laborer. But if the laborer has more than the slothful, he who has not worked esteems that discrepancy as unfair. This cannot be resolved adequately between the two of them. There are two directly opposing philosophies that cannot be reconciled. It requires a third entity to step in as a mediator.
That mediator is the Law. Equality under the law means that all men are judged the same way under the same law. No preference is given based on the standard criteria by which we define ourselves. A worker is entitled to the rights of property, privacy, expression, petition for redress of grievances, and so forth. A person who takes of the laborer's earnings is judged as a thief. They are dealt with under the constraints of the Law.
The government has as its sole responsibility the protection of the rights of the people under the Law. The specifics are laid out in the Constitution of the United States of America. No government, at any level, whether public, private, institutionalized or religious, should ever be in the business of making people feel good about themselves. Governments are instituted to enforce laws, statutes and guidelines. They are to protect those they serve, they are not entities unto themselves.
To draw this full circle back to the quote by CS Lewis, "The claim to equality ... is made only by those who feel themselves to be in some way inferior." Let's look at the stars. Some are brighter than others. Why? There are several possible explanations for this difference in brightness.

• One star is farther away than another.
• One star is larger than another.
• One star is actually brighter than another.

Much of the brightness depends on the perspective of the viewer. The man who mops floors may be overlooked by the executives and the white collars that drive the business. This same man who works all day may receive honor, praise and thanks when he comes home to his family. A child may think his father a hero, no matter if he mops floors, shuffles papers, or seals deals. 

So apparent difference in brightness may be imagined through differences in perspective, or it may be accurate. What's wrong with a person being superior to another? The moral trap enters when one assumes that they are destined to superiority. 

Just as the man with the mop may be promoted, so too the CEO may be fired. We are all in a constant flow up, down, sideways. Some days I may be equal to you, other days you may be superior to me. We look to heroes as being greater than ourselves. That superiority of our heroes gives us attributes to strive to obtain in ourselves. The inferiority of others gives us opportunity to lend a hand, teach, share and lift.

Equality does not equal Equalness. The Utopian ideal of equality in possessions, knowledge, wisdom and power does not exist in this world. The closest that we can get is a free-market system with limited government regulation to protect the rights of the people. In this system, the worker gets what he earns. The marketplace of his peers decide through the power of their purchases if the product/service/idea is of worth. Worthwhile ideas find success. Poor ideas do not find success but failure.

The freedom and liberty we strive for engenders equality, which is equal parts success and failure. Some days you win, and some days you lose. When you lose, you work harder the next day, and you get what you earn. You keep what you earn. That is fairness. That is equality. That is liberty.

Purity = Strength

 Excellence in character is a rare trait in public lives today. When a man decides who he is and lives that life, there is an honor that cannot be feigned.
We can look to Alfred Lord Tennyson's retelling of the Arthurian Legend in Idylls of The King for an example: Sir Galahad, the Pure.

"My good blade carves the casques of men,
   My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
   Because my heart is pure."   

(http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/Galahad.htm)

  It is when men try to disguise who they are that trust is eroded. There may be something slightly off with that person that we may sense. We might not be able to identify what is wrong, but most people can tell when someone is not being true to themselves or to others. A pure heart lights the countenance of the person. Light drives away darkness.
We prepare ourselves now for another election cycle. Who do we see on the screens and hear on the radios? Are they honorable, or are they what CS Lewis referred to as "little men"? That is up to the individual to educate themselves and decide.

 "Democracy demands that little men should not take big ones too seriously; it dies when it is full of little men who think they are big themselves."

--'Notes on the Way' Time and Tide

Sir Galahad demanded of himself purity. He knew that his strength came from the disciplined rejection of the morally degrading thoughts, actions and patterns of living that tore down other men of his time.
Do we demand purity of ourselves? Of our families? Our compatriots? Our elected officials?
As we demand purity of ourselves, we improve in clarity of thought, insight and knowledge. If our eyes are on the right things, our lives will fill with light. Light is truth. Light rejects darkness. By being the people that we would desire at our head, we wordlessly require those around us to live up to the same standards. A good man can improve his neighborhood just by living true. Likewise, a bad man can degrade a neighborhood if his neighbors do not watch themselves. But you notice that a bad man does not stay long in a good neighborhood. Darkness does not long stay in the light.
Let us then be as Galahad. He knew that his heart was pure, and he was stronger for it.
A strong government is one that recognizes its strength is derived from the consent of the governed. The biggest man is he that will not demean the little man for being little. All have their place. As we elect honest people of integrity, no matter their political persuasion, the dialogue will improve, and the system of government can and will purify itself.

More CS Lewis quotes - http://www.comnett.net/~rex/cslewis.htm

Driven to Our Knees

“The Prayer at Valley Forge” by Arnold Friberg 

Only when America willingly drops to her knees in deference to the Almighty Author of Liberty will the chains of captivity around her neck be loosed.
American Exceptionalism is merely one aspect of Human Exceptionalism. Being children of a loving Heavenly Father, we are of noble lineage. Exceptionalism is the expectation.
When America is strong in her faith, the world prospers. When America is weakened, the world trembles. Liberty is threatened, and men are driven to their knees by tyrants.

God bless America. May she always look to her God and be that shining city on a hill that cannot be hid. May America always wave the banner to which the nations flock. May the remembrance of the captivity of our fathers, before this nation was, drive us to our knees in humility, that we may rise in strength and stand in the Liberty wherewith God has made us free.

You Are Worth It

"Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it."
--The World's Last Night

CS Lewis quotes - http://www.comnett.net/~rex/cslewis.htm

Speaking as one who knows the darkness of depression, and who has trudged through life feeling utter worthless, it is no small comfort to know that the Greatest of All, descended below All, that he might know how to succor me in my infirmity.
The principles of Christianity make decent men better, and make bad men turn in shame. Because all men are free to choose liberty and eternal life, or captivity and eternal darkness, gives meaning to Christ's sacrifice. The freedom to determine our own fate is of eternal import.
This land of America was not founded so all men could be materially rich. The riches of the world are God's to give as he pleases. This land was established under the Divine Hand of Providence to enable all men, everywhere, to believe in self-determination. We are not bound to a king. We serve no author of salvation, except by choice. At the end of the day, America means that I am responsible for me. None determines who I am or how far I can reach, without my express consent.
The great American Experiment, as our forefathers named it, was set in motion for a moral people. The howling storm around us would fain convince that none of those who breathe are worth the air or earth they partake.  Life is not a sin. Humans, by nature, are sinners, only because there is an eternal Law. America stands because great men and women rose up to the call of Liberty and sounded that clarion to family, neighbors and community. They stood together in righteousness, despite different creeds or faiths. By doing so, they drove back the storm of tyranny and changed the world.
Once again, tyranny rears its dark head. Voices in the wind would convince each one that only through their product can we be beautiful, or popular, or wealthy, or worth it. The roaring tempest of information whirls around us, removing from us our stable point of reference. Only the still, small voice can penetrate the storm,
America is worth it. Each day, stand proud. America has been the example of Liberty and self-determination throughout the world. Right now, she is slipping from her foundations. If we lie down in sorrow, the house that our forefathers built will come crashing down around us. The hope of this nation is its people.
The supreme sacrifice has been made for you, and for me. You are worth it. I am worth it. And America is worth it.
How can you be a patriot today?

Bedrock of Truth

"It matters enormously if I alienate anyone from the truth."
--The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis

For every truth we tell, we cement ourselves further into the bedrock of faith. Nothing less than a firm foundation will preserve us from the howling storm. Let us give and expect the best of others, that through our words, our deeds, and our silent petitions we may be found a friend of truth.


CS Lewis quotes - http://www.comnett.net/~rex/cslewis.htm