ChaunceyRiddle

7 December 2015
Key Scriptures: 2 Nephi 2:8–29, D&C 84:19–25

The Commandment		Celestial Counterpart
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.	(Do not be guided by pleasure, money, sex, any other person, etc.)	Trust Jehovah (Jesus Christ) only.
Make no image to worship it.	(Do not need anything physical to bow down to.)	Worship Christ in spirit and truth; love Him with all heart, might, mind, strength
Don’t take God’s name in vain.	(Do not use God’s name casually nor receive His name casually.)	Take upon you God’s name and bear and use it with honor.
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.	(Do not seek your own pleasure on this day, but use it to remember God.)	Attend Church, take the sacrament, and reach out to bless others.
Honor thy Father and thy Mother .	(Don’t speak ill of or bring shame to your parents.)	Seek to bless all your ancestors with Gospel ordinances.
Thou shalt not kill.	(Don’t needlessly kill any plant or animal, and don’t kill humans.)	Give life; have a large family and bring them up in Christ.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.	(Control your sex drive.)	Marry in God’s temple and love your spouse with all of your heart.
Thou shalt not steal.	(Don’t want something for nothing.)	Share what you have with others who have less.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.	(Never lie or give false testimony.)	Celebrate truth, especially the great truth that Jesus is the Christ.
Thou shalt not covet.	(Don’t want anything you don’t need or cannot get honorably.)	Want every good thing for those around you.

To be righteous is to be the servant of all those around you, as was Christ, blessing them with all the good things they can stand to have, and doing this in His way and in His name.

Those who break any of the Ten Commandments and do not repent inherit Telestial Glory.

Those who keep all of the Ten Commandments are the honorable persons of the earth and will inherit Terrestrial Glory.

Those who keep the Celestial counterpart of the Ten Commandments inherit Celestial Glory.

Those who fulfill the New and Everlasting Covenant enter into exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom (they bear and bless their children forever).

Those who break the Ten Commandments reject the influence of Christ and have a hard time having or gaining a testimony of Christ and the Latter-day work.

But by prayer and sincere repentance, anyone can gain a testimony of Christ and His work.

March 1985

1. Definition: Communication: The effect or relationship one being has on or with another.

Kinds:

• Static:  One thing contiguous with another.
• Dynamic: One thing affecting (making changes) in another being.

Static communication is always reciprocal. Dynamic communication may or may not be reciprocal.

Intentional communication=agentive communication.

2. Definition:  Human communication: One human being affecting the body of another human being.

Kinds of active human communication:

• Visual affect
• Auditory affect
• Substance affect
•        Taste
•        Smell
•        Chemical
•        Solid object
•        Addition or deprivation of heat
• Kinetic communication (hitting, pushing, etc.)

Prominent myth about human communication: Human communication is the exchange of ideas.

This is a myth because we humans can only directly affect another person’s body, not their mind.

3. Spiritual communication: One being affecting another being by non-physical means.

Principal kinds:

• Good: Radiating the good spirit, thus influencing other beings to do godly (righteous) things.
• Evil: Radiating the evil spirit, thus influencing other beings to do evil (selfish) things.

Postulate: Human beings are always spiritual beings and always under the influence of at least one other spirit, either the spirit of God or the spirit of Satan. Each human being radiates to others either a good or an evil spiritual influence.

4. Communication between human beings is always a combination of human communication and spiritual communication. (The effect of spiritual communication gives rise to the myth of transfer of ideas.)

5. Agent communication always has specific parts:

•       a1. Sender intention: what the sender desires to accomplish.
•       b1. Sender main idea: the mental image which prompts the sender’s action.
•       c1. Sender assertion: the physical action launched by the sender to affect the target of communication.
•       d1. Sender affect: the net result of what the sender accomplished in asserting.

•       a2. Receiver intention: what the receiver desires to achieve as a response to what the receiver believes the sender intends.
•       b2. Receiver main idea: what the receiver thinks as a result of what the receiver thinks the sender had as a main idea.
•       c2. Receiver assessment: the urgency or importance or strength which the receiver places on the communication from the sender in light of what the receiver knows and imagines.
•       d2. Receiver affect: the specific response of the receiver to the sender’s communication.

6. Postulates of communication:

• a.   To exist is to communicate. Not to affect anything nor to be affected by anything is not to exist. All real beings communicate with something other than themselves.
• b.   How a being communicates defines its being, since anything exists only in communicating.
• c.   In a given situation, one being may not act, but only be acted upon by another. But to be a being, it must be potentially able to act. If it is never able to act for itself, it is not a separate being but only a part of the being which acts upon it.
• d.   The effects of communication upon agents are effects only of accident. Ordinary human communication never does or can change a hearer-agent’s essence.
• e.   An agent being has two potentials, one good, the other evil. The choices and actions (the communications) of the agent fix upon that agent one of the two potentials. Thus the agent partly creates himself or herself.
• f.    Salvation is communication from the Savior to an agent who has consistently chosen good over evil, inasmuch as he or she was able to do so, to make the person wholly good (holy).
• g.   Communication is always an entropic process. More is sent than is ever received.

7. Total Communication: takes place when two beings interact so completely that they become as one being.

8. Ways to achieve total communication:

• a.   Communicated in every way.
• b.   Communicate about everything.
• c.   Communicate in every environment.
• d.   Be redundant.
• e.   Communicate only good (unselfishness).

Exercises for communication

1.   Why is no human communication intelligible? Because it acts only on the body of the recipient.

2.   When is there too much communication? In a physical fight.

3.   When is there too little communication? When someone needs help, and none is given.

4.   What is the connection between communication and reality? Reality is what is communicated.

5.   What is the connection between communication and morality? All communication either helps or hinders the recipient.

6.   What are examples of total communication? God exalting one of his children.

7.   How does one communicate love? One being blesses another, leaving them better off afterward.

8.   Devise a strategy for communicating to any other person your concept of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be an example of living by faith in Jesus Christ.

Heart language is the ability of a human being to read and to express matters of the heart. The vocabulary of heart language is simple though infinite. There are only two terms, good and evil. Good is singular, unambiguous. Evil, on the other hand, spans an infinity subdivided range from nearly good to totally evil. So the heart has to make two decisions in both reading and speaking: Is a thing good or evil? And, if it is evil, how evil is it? (If one finds or chooses to express good, the matter resolves to only one question, of course.) Heart language is the basis of all other human language transactions. It is the independent variable.

Mind language is the ability of the human mind to read and to express ideas. The potential for mind language is great, virtually infinite. There are three orders of ideas which are noteworthy for our purposes:

1. Unit concepts: Things and functions. (E.g., apple, liberty; decay, endure)
2. Structures, taxonomies, maps, standards, as static formations of unit concepts, (e.g. the parts of a typical flower, the genetic phyla, a building floor plans, excellent writing.)
3. Stories, as dynamic formations of unit concepts. (E.g. myths, histories, fictions, current events, dramas, etc.)

Mind language is the basis of the human being talking with oneself, weighing alternatives, making plans, choosing actions. The mind presents a picture of “reality”, poses a problem within it, selects alternative courses of action which might be taken to solve the problem, and launches the selected solutions on its way to being enacted.

Strength language is the realm of what human beings typically recognize as language. There are three main types of strength language by which human beings communicate with each other:

1. Body language: Gestures, clothing styles and conditions, posture, etc.
   Body language also includes such things as dancing, painting, carpentry, husbandry, etc., by which one controls one’s physical environment.
2. Standard spoken or written languages: English, French, Swahili.
3. Technical languages: the jargons of particular trades and disciplines.

The function of strength language is to control. We control things and people through body language. Normally we only attempt to control people through standard and technical languages. Magic (black) is the control of things using words only, and is the counterfeit of priesthood power, which is controlling things by using God’s words.

Might language is the record people leave behind them in the world, the deposit or fallout of their heart, mind and strength languages. Might language is the language by which we are instructed to judge one another. (By their fruits shall ye know them.)

There are three major divisions of might language to be read. The person’s effect on things:

1. Home and possessions. In what order are they kept?
2. People. What has been the person’s influence on others?
3. Supernatural. What has been the persons influence from God and Satan?

Heart, mind and strength language capability is the register of what a given person can do, his or her present potential. (Future potential may be greater or lesser, depending on whether the person’s capability in heart, mind and strength languages is increasing or decreasing.)

Might language is the register of what a person has done. Everyone leaves a mark on the universe, and by that mark will be judged.

God is a perfect judge, and looks upon the heart, mind, strength, and might of the individual, reading the language potential of each aspect, the actual performance of each aspect, and assessing how much blessing each person can stand for the eternities. Each person is given the opportunity in eternity to do all the good linguistic transactions of heart, mind, strength and might which he or she mastered during probation (but none of the evil transactions which the person indulged in.)

Repentance is thus a matter of changing the way we use our own language capabilities of heart, mind, strength and might. Salvation is being rescued from evil desires so that we learn to use our heart, mind, strength, and might only for good language transactions.

It is noteworthy that on the day of judgment we shall be called to account for every idle word we have spoken. (Every evil language transaction in each of the four areas of language transaction?)

A just man made perfect is a man and woman bonded together in the New and Everlasting Covenant by love of God and of each other, who read good and evil in the hearts of others without error, but who express from their own hearts only good; who read the ideas of others without error, but who think in their own minds only that which is good; who read the strength languages of all others correctly but who express with their own bodies only that which is good (righteous): and who assess correctly the might language of all others but who express in their own might only that which is perfect in Jesus Christ.

November 1991

Part I. The Place of Argument.

1. What is an argument?

Argument-1: A conclusion accompanied by supporting ideas.

Argument-2: An antagonistic conversation between two people.

This work will deal only with Argument-1 and will use the word “argument” to refer to Argument-1.

2. Why would anyone want to produce an argument?

The purpose of argument is the attempt of one person to persuade another person (or persons) to believe or to do something.

3. What is there about this world that makes arguments important?

Human beings are often in doubt as to what to believe or what to do. Arguments are the attempts of one person to persuade someone (including oneself) as to what to believe or what to do.

4. Why is this world that way?

Father designed the world and his children so that they could come to truth (knowing what to believe) and wisdom (knowing what to do) on their own only with difficulty. He has prepared means by which each of His children may gain a fullness of truth and wisdom through our Savior. But many humans would rather stumble in the dark rather than to go to Father through His Son to learn truth and wisdom.

5. When we try to find truth and wisdom using only human resources, we find that some matters are easy, some are very difficult.

Learning what to believe about what is immediately and physically around us is truth that is fairly easy to come by. Learning how to deal wisely with the physical things around us is also at the easy end of the scale. But even at this easy end of the scale, human beings make mistakes which can cost them their physical and spiritual lives when they rely on human means to gain truth and wisdom.

Learning what to believe and what to do to satisfy our immediate needs for nourishment and protection is also at the easy end of the scale.

Learning what to believe and what to do to be successful and happy in this life is mid-range in difficulty.

Learning what to believe and what to do to claim our full eternal inheritance as children of God is at the very difficult end of the scale of learning truth and wisdom.

6. What are the options human beings have for learning what to believe and what to do?

Human beings have two basic options:

• a.   Accept the opinions of other human beings, or
• b.   Make contact with God and learn from Him.

7. Why do most human beings learn mostly from human beings?

Because:

• a.   God asks men to be obedient when He teaches them. Some men do not want to be moral (obedient to God), so they do not seek to learn from God.
• b.   There are always plenty of human beings ready to tell others what to believe. And to communicate with human beings is easier, at first, than communicating with God. But communicating with human beings is not a hundredth part as profitable as is communicating with God if one is willing to be moral.

8. Where does argument fit into this picture?

Human beings have noticed that some human beings are better sources of ideas about things to do and to believe than others are. The ones who are better sources usually can explain why they say what they say. These explanations are arguments.

The human being who says to others, “You believe and do what I say without questioning!” are pretending to be gods, but following any of them around for a day proves they aren’t up to much as gods.

Human beings who try to persuade others to believe and do as they say by argumentation are honoring the intelligence and the agency of their hearers.

Argument appeals to the minds of men and is meaningful to those who try to approach life using their minds to help themselves.

9. How does argumentation fit in with being skeptical?

To demand and argument (support for an idea) is the essence of skepticism. Skepticism is the unwillingness to believe or do anything where there is insufficient evidence to support the correctness of the belief or the action.

We are under instruction from the Lord to be skeptical of the sayings of every human being. But we are also under instruction to pay special attention to those whom we know are called of God and preside over us in His priesthood authority, but to believe and do only that which the Holy Spirit confirms to us is the mind and will of the Lord.

If we do not know the Holy Spirit (cannot tell when it is speaking to us), then we are trapped in the opinions of men.

10. Does God also present arguments to human beings?

God does honor men with arguments. He sends His missionaries out armed with arguments such as the continuity of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Biblical account of that gospel, as opposed to other current “Christian” versions of the gospel. The purpose of such arguments is to provide an occasion for the missionary to commend the hearer to pray to Father in the name of Jesus Christ in the attempt to establish a personal communication relationship with God. When one has come to know that he is truly communicating with God, the human being must then be willing on some occasions to accept what God says for him or her to believe and to do without demanding proof (argument) that what God says is correct. To act on the word of God which results from having prayed earnestly in the name of Jesus Christ, without demanding antecedent proof of truth or wisdom from God is what constitutes faith in Jesus Christ. Only in faith in Jesus Christ can any human being be saved (brought back into Father’s presence to share with Father and our Savior all that they have).

11. What is Father’s purpose in this freedom of choice which men have?

Father wishes to prove who can be trusted with great knowledge and power and who cannot. Thus He leaves His children free to choose between His truth and wisdom and the so-called truth and wisdom of men.

When human beings accept Father’s truth and wisdom, they also accept His righteousness. When a human being has become fully righteous, then Father can then bestow a fullness of light (wisdom) and truth (correct belief) upon that person.

But if men do not desire Father’s righteousness, He leaves them the option to accept whatever they can get by way of beliefs and wisdom from other human beings and from Satan.

12. Are there other alternatives for getting things done with human beings other than those of accepting the arguments of men or having faith in Jesus Christ?

A favorite human alternative for “getting things done” is brute force. War, police, law and personal assault are force alternatives to persuasion.

13. Is there a counterfeit to persuasion?

Genuine persuasion (presenting of an argument) is done in love, kindness, and pure knowledge of the truth. The counterfeit to this honorable persuasion is to use lies, half-truths and threats of brute force to get people to agree.

14. What is the best use to which human arguments can be put?

The best use of human arguments is to persuade all men to come to Christ. For in Christ come all good things: all light, all truth, and the only way back to Father. For a person who is full of light and truth from Christ has no further need to receive the arguments of men except to counter such arguments with better arguments from Christ by which to lead his hearers also to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

The goal of all honorable presentation of arguments is to bring other human beings to light and truth. But the best way to bring human beings to light and truth is to encourage them to come unto Christ, the earthly source of all light and truth.

15. Should all human arguments which do not persuade men to come to Christ be rejected by those who are servants of Christ?

The scriptures bear plain witness: Whatsoever does not promote good (Father’s righteousness) and testify of Christ is not of Christ (and therefore is not good).

Any servant of Christ who wishes not to be misled will take every idea to Father, in the name of Christ, to find our whether to believe and to do it or not. This is part of the strait and narrow path of which the scriptures speak.

The arguments of men are mixtures of truth and error, good and evil. To accept any human argument at face value without going to Father to discern the true worth of that message is folly. For thus the blind lead the blind.

Through the power of Christ His servants may select what is true and righteous from every human message and leave that which is dross (false and evil) behind.

16. Why then learn to argue?

Argument is the “coin of the realm” in the academic world. The academic measure of any contribution is judged by the arguments which men produce to persuade their fellowmen.

If you wish to succeed in the academic world, you must learn to judge well the arguments of others and to argue well yourself.

The greatest single help to learn to judge the arguments of others and to learn to argue well is to have the Holy Spirit to be one’s guide, which can only come to covenant (baptized) servants of Christ.

And if you learn to argue well, you can use that power to persuade other human beings to come to Christ. But one must remember that no human argument can “prove” Christ. What our human arguments do is catch the attention of other persons and get them to pray to Father in the name of Christ to see if He has any message for them. It is Father, and our Savior, and the Holy Ghost who are the ultimate persuaders. Their persuasion will eventually win the assent and love of all humans, even if not so right now.

17. How does Satan work upon human beings?

Satan’s only direct access to human beings is to persuade them. But his persuasion is never honorable. For though he teaches some truth, he also uses lies whenever it suits his purpose, and thus is an unreliable witness; and he never encourages good, but strictly and carefully pursues an undeviating course to persuade men to do evil.

Satan’s only real leverage is to whisper to men encouragement to believe what is pleasing to them and to do what pleases them. Satan can only tempt or try to persuade us through our own lusts.

Any human being who tries to persuade others to believe something which is not true or to do something which is not righteous is in the service of Satan, whether he or she knows it or not.

The only way to avoid being a servant to Satan is to come unto Christ. One cannot serve two masters. The only way to completely stop serving Satan is to come unto Christ through the New and Everlasting Covenant and through it to be perfected in Him. Then one’s faith and one’s arguments of persuasion will be pure and holy, even as the person is holy, even as Christ is holy.

18. What then is to conclusion of this conversation?

The conclusion is that argumentation is a very important human academic skill which all persons in academia must master. All of the technical professions employ this methodology. Using this skill one can either do evil or righteously apply it to eternal purposes.

Part II: The Kinds of Argumentation

1. There are five kinds of arguments (to use one taxonomy):

Arguments are used to:

• a.   Clarify (interpret)
• b.   Verify (establish the truth or probability of truth)
• c.   Understand (tell how something works)
• d.   Evaluate (establish the worth of some belief or action)
• e.   Apply (this is how you do X)

2. Example of an argument of clarification:

Question: What does it mean to be “pure in heart?”

Argument:

            Conclusion: To be pure in heart means to have the pure love of Christ in our hearts for all others.

Premises:

1. To be “pure” means to be unmixed.
2. The business of hearts is choosing.
3. To be “pure in heart” means that with our hearts we choose only one kind of thing (choosing is unmixed).
4. Hearts choose between good and evil.
5. Pure hearts choose only good.
6. The only good thing is to love Father and our neighbor with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.
7. To love Father and our neighbor with all of our heart, might, mind and strength is to have the gift of charity, which is the pure love of Christ.
8. To love Father and our neighbor is to love all others.

Therefore: To be pure in heart means to have the pure love of Christ in our hearts for all others.

3. Example of an argument of verification:

Question: Is it true that this earth is the most wicked of all the earths Father has created?

Clarification: Earths are not wicked. Only children of God on His earths can be wicked.

Conclusion: The most wicked of all of God’s children who had ever been given mortality up to the time of the life of Enoch upon this earth were human beings living on this earth at that time.

Premises:

• a.   Moses 7:35–36 says: Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name, also. Wherefore, I can stretch forth mind hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been such great wickedness as among thy brethren.
• b.   The scriptures of the Pearl of Great Price reveal the truth.

Therefore: It is the truth that the most wicked of all of God’s children who had ever been given morality up to the time of the life of Enoch upon this earth were human beings living upon this earth at that time.

4. Example of an argument of understanding:

Question: How does one become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ?

Conclusion: One becomes a son or daughter of Jesus Christ by obeying His instruction to believe in Him and His gospel, to repent of one’s sins, and to be born again of water and Spirit through authorized servants of Christ.

Premises:

• a.   To become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ is to become an authorized inheritor of what Christ is and has.
• b.   To become an authorized inheritor of what Christ is and has, one must hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ taught by the power of the Holy Ghost, and one must believe that divine witness.
• c.   If one believes that divine witness, he or she will repent of sinning (which is to say, one will confess one’s sins and forsake them).
• d.   If one believes in Christ as explained in the gospel of Christ, and has repented, one is prepared to take the covenant of baptism.
• e.   If one is prepared to take the covenant of baptism, an authorized servant of Jesus Christ (bearing the Holy Priesthood) will interview the person to ascertain the fulness of that preparation, and when satisfied that one is prepared, will administer the ordinance of baptism by water.
• f.    In accepting baptism by water under the power of an authorized servant of Christ one promises to: 1) Be willing to take upon them the name of Christ; 2) To always remember Him; and 3) Keep every commandment which He (Christ) gives unto them.
• g.   Baptized persons who have actually made the promises specified above are ready to be confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• h.   An authorized servant lays his hands upon the head of the one who is ready to be confirmed and commands them in the name of Christ to receive the Holy Ghost and announces that they are now members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• i.    If the person confirmed does not receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost at the moment of confirmation, they should pray and seek for it until they receive it.
• j.    When the person actually receives the companionship of the Holy Ghost after confirmation they have then been baptized with fire.
• k.   Every person who is truly born of the water and of the Spirit has kept the commandment of God and is now a son or daughter of Jesus Christ and will remain so as long as they keep the promises they made in receiving the covenant of baptism.

Conclusion: One becomes a son or daughter of Jesus Christ by obeying his instruction to believe in Him and His gospel, to repent of one’s sins, and to be born again of water and Spirit through authorized servants of Christ.

Note that this argument of understanding does not consist of proofs of the correctness of individual steps: that would make argument one of verification. An argument of understanding is a careful explanation as to how to do something. If one applies the formula and gains the desired result, then the explanation has worked. In this example, one knows that one has become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ if he or she fulfills the understanding given and thereafter enjoys the companionship of the Holy Spirit.

5. Example of an argument of evaluation:

Question: What is the worth of a human soul?

Conclusion: A saved human soul is worth more that the life time of labor of an ordinary human being.

Premises:

• a.   The lifetime labor of an ordinary human being is not worth a great deal, because of themselves, no human being can do any fully good thing. If human beings do fully good things, it is because they have come unto Christ and do His good (righteousness).
• b.   No human soul can be saved by a lifetime of unaided human labor, because that labor is not good (not worth saving).
• c.   A saved human soul will do the work of Christ. This work is eternally worthwhile, and the fruits of this work will last into all eternity. And this soul will go on in eternity doing good to all eternity.
• d.   A single mortal work of a saved soul which will have eternal good consequences is worth more than a whole mortal lifetime of human work which will be destroyed at death and not be remembered any more.

Therefore: A saved human soul is worth more than the life time labor of an ordinary human being.

Note that arguments of evaluation are all comparative. Something is established as a standard or as better, and a judgment is then made about value or worth.

6. Example of an argument of application:

Question: What should one do with love?

Conclusion: One should learn to love better and better until that love is pure and complete, as is Father’s love. Then one can help wayward souls.

Premises:

• a.   Every person on earth once did what was right because they felt Father’s love for them.
• b.   Some persons on earth now do not do what is right because they no longer feel Father’s love for them.
• c.   The best thing one can do for a neighbor is to gain Father’s kind of love and then love our neighbor.

Therefore: One should learn to love better and better until that love is pure and complete, as is Father’s love. Then one can help wayward souls.

Part III. What Makes a Quality Argument?

1. A quality argument is complete.

All must be explicit. There should be no suppressed premises.

2. A quality argument must be valid.

The argument must be formally correct. The premises must make the conclusion to be warranted.

3. A quality argument must be based in truth.

The premises must be true, and known to be true. Plausible premises only allow plausible conclusions.

4. A quality argument is audience centered.

The language, figures of speech, clarity and tone must be appropriate to the intended hearers of the argument.

5. A quality argument must be delivered in suitable rhetorical device.

If delivered by an essay, a poem, or a play, they must be well written lest they mask their message. If delivered by the actions of a person, they must be consistent and competent.

Connotations are also important. A hymn loses its spiritual force when sung in nightclub style. The vehicle must not be too long (to lose the audience) nor too short (to fail to convey the full weight of the message).

Ask any group of teenagers, or senior citizens, any group of construction workers, any board of directors: Is there anything you want that you do not have? Will not the answer be a resounding “yes”? For most people have unfulfilled desires. Most people think that if their desires were fulfilled, they would be happy. They tend to see whatever it is that keeps them from having what they want as an evil. The teenagers often resent the restrictions placed upon them by their elders. Senior citizens wish for good health. Construction workers want higher wages. Boards of directors want less competition. Everyone seems to want the freedom they think would fulfill their desires. What is this thing, freedom?

It is helpful to understand that there are two things which come under the head of freedom which are often confused with one another. These are license, the permission to do something we wish to do, and ability, the power to accomplish what we have permission to do. Many senior citizens have permission (license) from society to enjoy much leisure time, but ill-health often denies them the ability to do so. Young people often have the ability to do things they desire, but cannot get permission to do them. Both groups desire to be freer than they are.

Let us call the one “personal freedom.” Personal freedom is the ability to do what we wish to do. It is something within us, personal to us. It is not something that others give to us, though they may help. It is a matter of the strength, and discipline of our mind, body and spirit. It is being able to run, to think, to feel, and to enjoy as we wish.

The other kind of freedom might be called “social freedom.” Social freedom is what other people allow us to do. Society is arranged so that we can freely go some places, but most of us are stopped by people from going into bank vaults or hospital operating rooms. We may say many things but may suffer if we slander someone. We may associate with some people at will, but some social groups exclude us. Some of us are allowed to vote, others are not.

It turns out, not surprisingly, that these two kinds of freedom, personal and social, are closely related. But the way in which they are related is surprising to many. It also turns out that both are essential to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The first thing we might ask about the relationship of the two is which one comes first. Does social freedom make personal freedom possible, or is it personal freedom that makes social freedom possible? Much can be told about a person’s politics and religion by what his answer is to this which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg problem. But the world should not be in the least doubt as to what the Savior of Mankind thinks about this problem. His mortal ministry is a clear emphasis that one is more important than and needs to precede the other.

The Savior was born into a society where there was relatively little social freedom, though it was not entirely lacking. Rome ruled the Mediterranean world with an iron fist. Merchants had great freedom of commerce, but slavery was the base of the social order. Taxation was heavy, local corruption was everywhere, provincial authorities could do much evil at whim. The murder of the children of Bethlehem in Herod’s attempt to destroy Jesus epitomizes the climate. Yet the Savior and His disciples were able to travel, to preach, and to bring souls to Christ.

The Savior’s answer to the problem of freedom was clearly this: be concerned about personal freedom, not politics. He required drastic changes in the lives of his followers, even the giving up of their lives. But he said nothing about government redistribution of income, about throwing off foreign oppression, about forcing the Jews to accept the Samaritans. His relative silence about social injustice has made it difficult to use His teachings as a tool of oppression. We cannot therefore conclude that the Savior did not care about the slaves and the poor. We do see that the best way to begin to help the total problem is to enlarge personal freedom: to make better individuals first.

It is obvious to all that a person who has great health and strength is more free than one who is sickly and weak. To be free to run, to swim, to jump, to climb, to play, to work, these are treasured freedoms. Often these are valued more when they have gone than when one possesses them. But they are prized.

It is also plain to see that physical health and strength are not accidents. There are laws of heredity and hygiene which relate to abundant health. Consciously pursued by intelligent means, health can be preserved and enlarged by most persons, and vigor of mind and body are enjoyed by the diligent far past the norms for their ages. Personal freedom is enhanced by a person who is willing to use the laws of physical health to his advantage. That use involves sacrifice of personal desires and social custom. For few people does the way of health coincide with the desires of the flesh and the eating and drinking habits of their peers.

The Savior has given us commandments concerning health, such as the Word of Wisdom. The Savior’s commandments do not conflict with the natural laws of health. They simply direct us to follow the laws of health to become and stay healthy. The Savior created us and put us upon earth, giving each of us the freedom to be gluttons and wine bibbers or to be wise and healthy. But He also gives us commandment that we should not be gluttons or wine bibbers if we wish to please Him. If we please Him in these matters, we reap two rewards: the rewards of both physical health and of spiritual health.

The first reward, the physical benefit of health is one that any person can receive by doing those things which make for health. This may or may not be a part of their religion, but in any case it is a matter of being prudent. The second reward is spiritual. It comes because of obedience to the Savior’s commandments. By acting on the principle of faith in Him, we not only receive better health and greater strength than we otherwise would have had, but we reap the spiritual health and strength of acting in faith. This faithfulness is more than prudence. We do not say, “I will go along with the Lord because medical science has demonstrated the essential correctness of the Word of Wisdom.” What we say in faith is: “I have tried obeying the commandments of the Lord in the past, and I found that my obedience leads to very good results. I will now go and do all things which the Lord commands me, for I trust His knowledge, wisdom and love above all else.” If we thus follow the Savior in the commandments relating to health, we gain health plus the spiritual rewards.

And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

And shall run and not weary, and shall walk and not faint.

And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen. (D&C 89:18–21)

The concept essential to all of this is that we live in a universe of law and order. The Savior’s commandments are in no way capricious, willful, or personal to Him. He commands us to do those things which accord with the laws of the universe to bring about righteousness, happiness, and blessing.

Through faith in Him we may lay hold of every good thing.

Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?

And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.

And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.

And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.

Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, is shall be done unto you.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?

For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. (Moroni 7:19–30)

While it is true that men can discern some good things to do by natural means, say science, by which to build health, we as individuals cannot afford to put our trust in science. Science sees things by starlight, but the Lord shows His servants the way by sunlight. If we wish to see and do all that leads to happiness, we will walk by sunlight, not by starlight.

The starlight at best can help us only with physical things. It cannot direct us in spiritual things for the ways of science are deliberately blind to spiritual phenomena. The truly wise man in this world is the one who rejects the wisdom of men and puts his trust in the true and living God. Then he has access to physical wisdom which science will not discover till long after he is dead. Then he has access to spiritual wisdom that the natural man can never know. Then, through keeping all of the commandments, he becomes a new creature in Christ, not only healthy but renewed, not only knowledgeable but wise, not only hopeful but triumphant in accomplishment. Such a one is President Spencer W. Kimball.

Thus personal freedom lies in being enlarged and strengthened in body, mind and spirit. The only sure way to that freedom is to be a little child with the Savior as our Father and guide. It remains here only to point out briefly how obedience to the Lord brings freedom in areas other than physical health.

Desires. What we desire is fundamental to our personality. Do we hunger for fame, esteem, power, money, ease, comfort? Or do we desire righteousness and the obedience, discipline, sacrifice and hard work that make righteousness possible? Most of us desire a mixture of right and wrong things as we find ourselves, natural creatures in this world. Our desires are largely socially conditioned: we want what our parents and peers want, and we tend to believe that our happiness depends upon our getting what we want. Those who give us what we desire are seen as benefactors. Those who block us in the fulfilling of our desires are seen as evil persons.

The natural man, thus trapped in and by his desires, is not free. He chases the will-o-the-wisp, for the fulfilling of desire does not usually bring him happiness. That failure tends to force many people to substitute pleasure for happiness. They settle for wealth or power, fast cars or horses, boats, drugs and danger. Their desires whip them to and fro. Not finding satisfaction when they get some of what they want, they strive for all of what they want. Nature and society usually prevent them from getting all of the possessions, thrills and power that they want, so they damn the world, die in anger, and go off into the spirit world to commiserate with Cain, Samson, Hitler and company.

The Savior came to save us from all that. He tells us to repent, to turn our hearts from the desires of this world to the work of righteousness. He would have us desire food for the hungry, jobs for the poor, instruction for the unlearned, comfort for those who grieve. If we will yield our hearts to him, we are relieved of desires for wealth, power and pleasure, where we could not find true satisfaction, and are turned to doing good for others. Then He, the Savior, becomes our joy. Lifting the souls of men becomes our happiness. Working to serve others becomes our pleasure.

When we pursue the desires of the world, we are always fighting God. If we achieve it is by stepping on (and being stepped on by) our fellow men. This is not to be free. But when we turn our hearts to God, we ally ourselves with all the righteous beings of the universe which brings us the power of the universe to succeed. We then labor in a work where we do not compete with any of our fellow men. All can run and win the prize. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of the natural man to conceive of the happiness that comes from repenting, from yielding our hearts to God that we might be taught anew what to desire. This is real freedom!

Feelings. Desires bring us to what we want, feelings are our reactions to what we have. The natural man is troubled by what he has, no matter what it is. There is always something more to want in a world where desire can be infinite but where resources are finite. Someone else can always be envied, even if mistakenly. Pain is seen as an enemy, as are work and sacrifice. Dissatisfaction with self is reflected in nastiness towards others. It is natural feelings that destroy the fulfillment of natural desire, for nature can never provide enough.

But nature is not all there is. There is a God in heaven who teaches men to school their feelings. He teaches them first to have gratitude. If men are grateful to the Great Creator for a body (even if not a perfect body), for a stunningly beautiful earth (even if not Eden), for companions (even if they are not as He is, not saints), for work to do (even if not fully compensated), their life has a different flavor entirely. Is it possible that spiritual life begins with gratitude, with thankfulness, for all that one already has? He who is grateful knows that every human being has much, and that gratitude warms his soul to a satisfaction that makes it possible to bear great trials, persecution and pain. In a world noted for trial, persecution and pain, is that not a notable freedom?

As gratitude drives out envy and greed, it prepares a place for love. The greatest of all feelings is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. The second is like unto it, to love our neighbors, even if they are not perfect. The love of a perfect God makes it possible to love an imperfect man. To love, in that order, is to live. It is to rise above nature, to know what it means to be a citizen of eternity. Faith in Christ frees feeling, and thus is the soul of man enlarged and exalted.

Thoughts. A soul filled with faith in the word of Christ, having found ennobling desires and excellent feelings, is prepared to understand the things of God. The world would have us believe that it works the other way, that correct ideas make correct desires and feelings possible. But how do you tell correct ideas? If there were a straightforward answer to that question, the world would not languish in error, lies and captivity. The world seemingly cannot accept the idea that truth and happiness are personal things, personal gifts from the Savior. His children know better.

The children of light know that it is not abstract knowledge of truth that saves them. They know that they are saved no faster than they learn about Jesus, the Messiah. But they are not saved by that knowledge. They know they become free only by using that special understanding of the Savior, brought by the Holy Spirit, to put their faith and trust in the Lord. That faith leads them to repentance. The essence of that repentance is to change the desires of one’s heart and the feelings one has about the world. Then we stop sinning. Then we can be taught to think as He thinks, to know as He knows, to see as we are seen.

The greatest freedom this world has or could conceive of is the freedom each person has when he knows the Gospel, to become like the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the freedom to throw off whatever limitation or accident of birth or environment which prevents us from becoming as He is. It is the freedom to grow to be as He is in heart, might, mind and strength. It is the freedom to love with the pure love and to bless others into all eternity.

Thus it is personal freedom which is prior and paramount. The Savior taught the Jews all they needed to be free. His earthly ministry gave them the goal, the mark, to which they should look, and which they could attain. By looking beyond the mark, they lost their kingdoms, both in this world and in the next.

10 November 1980

No. 1

The basic message of the Bible is true:

We have a loving Father in Heaven.

Jesus Christ is His Son, our Savior.

Our Savior teaches us right from wrong.

As our Savior spoke to men through living prophets in ancient times, so he speaks to men today, to teach them right from wrong.

Right living leads to happiness and success. Wrong living leads to frustration, dissatisfaction, and despair.

Right living is to keep the commandments of our Savior in order to bless the lives of others and to make this world a better, happier, more beautiful place.

Wrong living is selfishness, tyranny, and distractiveness.

Because he clearly shows the way to right living, the living prophet is the most important person now on earth.

No. 2

When a man and a woman marry and selflessly love and support one another, the world is richer.

The family is the basic social, educational and economic unit of society. The strength of any people is measured by the strength of its families.

Children are a heritage of the Lord. The greatest challenge in life is to be a parent and to raise one’s children to be moral, able pillars of society.

The pure love of Christ makes it possible for family relationships to be perfected in this life and to continue past death into eternity.

No. 3

Church and state should be separate, but religion and politics cannot be separate.

Religion is how a person treats other people.

Politics is how people use government to treat other people.

A person’s politics is a true reflection of what he or she believes about religion.

Good religion is where people are honest, fair and kindly one to another.

Good government is where people are protected from those who are not honest, fair and kindly one to another.

Good religion produces good politics which produces good government.

No. 4

It is work which produces and protects the good things human beings need to enjoy life.

Intelligent, hard work is the best kind of work, for it tends to produce more than the worker needs for himself or herself.

Every person should work. Every person should work intelligently and hard, to produce and protect good things.

The ability to work hard and intelligently is a gift from God.

Those who acknowledge the gift of God are glad to share voluntarily the fruits of their labors with those who are not blessed with the ability to work.

No. 5

Every family should work together, play together, and worship together.

Every family should grow gardens together and store against the day of want.

Every family should keep records, so they will remember who they are and how the Lord has blessed them.

Every family should cooperate, so that the burden of one is voluntarily shared by all.

Every family should live together in the beauty of order, music, flowers and manners.

Every family should discover that they can become members of the personal family of Jesus Christ.

Provo, Utah
10 Dec 1985

Dear Wendy,

Thanks for your letter describing the family get-together. I’m sorry we could not be there; we will try next Thanksgiving.

You asked me to explain what is happening in the Church Education System. Since why it happened is as instructive as what has come to pass, let me give you both in brief compass.

Looking back, it is difficult to imagine the rapidity with which change has transformed the Church. The beginning was inauspicious. It was the quiet announcement in the Welfare Session of April Conference 1978 that the time had come to implement the law of consecration. It is safe to say that the Church Education System would be impoverished and threadbare were it not for that step. True, it took several years to see any noticeable difference; but that difference is so plain now that it is our principal missionary opening. For as the more faithful members of the Church came forward and deeded over all of their property to the Church and then assumed roles as the Lord’s stewards, it was as though a new race of people came into being—thousands of families began to be like President Kimball had been. They were so full of spiritual power that it showed in every act, in every word. They radiated the love the prophets have always idealized, because they had made the Savior truly the center of their lives. The healings, the prophecies, the miracles, controlling fire and the weather are well known. Less well known but amply manifest is the kindness, the willingness to share, the complete unselfishness of these superhuman souls.

But it was in their work that the biggest harvest was realized. Whether missionary labors, auto repair, school teaching, farming or what have you, everything they touched turned to spiritual gold. They invented new and better ways of doing things (some seemed so simple after they had shown the way) because they did what they did only to transmit the Savior’s love to their fellowmen, seeking no reward for themselves, even wincing under thanks.

So that was the engine that made the power possible for all the other changes to take place. It took some time for it to dawn on me that this—the law of consecration—was the little stone which Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel saw cut out of the mountain without hands. It was cut out with hearts and is this very day rolling forth, breaking in pieces and consuming with love the kingdoms of this world. Indeed there is mighty opposition, the hate and persecution you describe was inevitable. But the work of the Savior will not be deterred.

The second great change followed naturally from the first. It was a change little talked about but truly revolutionary in import. The faithful members stopped talking about the Gospel as a thing, a what. In fact, they almost stopped talking about the Gospel, period. Not that the Gospel message was less important. It was that the message was less important: too sacred to say much about, but urgent in its need to be employed. So the Gospel became a “how.” It became the way one taught a child or tamed a horse or grew a garden. It was the way one solved an engineering problem or perfected a welfare distribution system or negotiated with those bent on destroying the kingdom.

The crowning evidence of this change is reflected in our missionary work. We now speak little of theology or precepts. We concentrate on teaching the people other things, on helping them with their problems. They are so astounded by the solutions and the obvious power of the missionaries that they ask to know the Gospel. The story of Ammon of old has become the norm rather than the exception.

The key to this is the power the missionaries have to discern the hearts of the people. As they address their fears and wounds, a wonderful solvent of faith releases their hearers from the chains of their fathers, and the Holy Spirit becomes delicious to them.

Some see only the power involved. They are awed, and like Simon wish to buy the gift. The missionaries tell them that the price is a pure heart, which cuts some to the quick; they actually and readily repent, because they did not know that purity of heart was anything but a myth until they saw it in action. Then the idea was so powerful that they were overcome just as King Lamoni was. But the hard-core simonists just became angry. Like the silversmiths of Ephesus, they try to incite mobs against us.

The third change was the demise of the concept of teaching. True, “teaching” is not completely dead, but in the Church it is feebly gasping out its days. The emphasis now is upon learning. Each person is honored as a learner. Instead of modeling great teachers, we model great students, and those who achieve great learning and ability are rewarded not by others, but by the good they can then do for others. Teaching itself is not longer an ego-trip, the erstwhile teacher is now a facilitator who works unobtrusively to help each learner maximize effort. People learn what they are ready for now, not what the teacher feels like dispensing. They learn at their own rate, and according to their own ability. The aural learners have aural exposure, the motor learners move, etc.

The secret of this revolution is that we finally took section 50 to heart, and realized that it is the pattern for all learning, not just learning the Gospel. When both learner and facilitator are moved by the Holy Spirit and consumed by the love of the Savior, can you imagine the result? Seeing through algebra in an afternoon, learning a language in a week, comprehending the principles of communication in one apt demonstration! It boggles the mind. Even those who are not “speedy” don’t feel badly. They rejoice so in the attention and love manifested towards them and they so appreciate the Spirit that they progress with delight. There are no “dumbbells” anymore and, interestingly, almost every soul is an above average learner in some facet of development.

So good riddance to the days of put-down teaching, “spread-them-out” grading on the curve, and limited quotas for programs. Facilitators are brothers and sisters, not lords and masters, and a good spiritual time is had by all.

You can probably guess the nature of the next great change. It is that everyone in the Church who is faithful becomes a facilitator. To be such is such a superb way to bless and honor those whom they love, that one could not stand to be without it. How do you learn to be a facilitator if there are no “teachers” anymore? Very simply if not easily. One simply finds or selects a good facilitator and starts to imitate them. That works because the essence of facilitation is showing forth love for the learners, thus releasing them from their fears, hurts, doubts and anxieties, which releases their spiritual learning potential. Facilitation turns out to be mainly the teaching of a soul with the pure love of Christ. It is communicating in a Gospel way, not about the Gospel, but using it. It is faith, hope, charity, justice, mercy, sacrifice and consecration all wrapped up in handshakes, carefully chosen words, abstemious example, gentle cheerfulness, boundless courage and sure direction.

The other part of the facilitation is the skills and information which the learner desires to acquire. If the facilitator is learned, the desire is simply met. If the facilitator does not have what is desired, that “what” becomes to facilitators desire also, and the two of them search eagerly, gladly, confidently, for the result. For they know that “when two or three are gathered together in my name, there will I be also.” And there is nothing that the Savior or his servants don’t know.

The fifth change follows as the night the day. If every adult member of the Church has learned to be a facilitator, what do they spend their time doing? Facilitating, of course. Every time two Latter-day Saints get together their actions are two-fold: they get busy on some project to improve something, and one is facilitating the learning of the other (sometimes they reverse roles on different skills.) My how the work gets done. My how able everyone becomes. With one heart and one mind they pursue the words of righteousness and the poor become rich in every way. (Sounds heavenly, aye? That of course is because it is. This is the day for which Isaiah longed.)

Well now, with that background, the Church Education System should make more sense. Let’s begin with the missionaries.

A few years ago the Church started calling “educational” missionaries, just as they had called building and health missionaries previously. But a marvelous thing happened. The “educational” missionaries who had learned to be facilitators very quickly were baptizing as many or more than the proselyting missionaries. As the authorities of the Church examined what the best proselyting missionaries were doing and what the facilitators were doing, they found that the methodology of both was identical: they “showed the Gospel in their actions rather than trying to teach it at first. They simply addressed themselves to the needs of whoever is was they were talking to, striving to bless them in their spiritual, emotional, intellectual or physical problems, whatever the need. They had spiritual power to deliver help because they had consecrated all, especially their hearts, to the Savior. They did not try to distinguish “golden” from other contacts. They simply tried to help each person they met. But there were a couple of basic rules: they would not give money, and they would not do for someone what that person could be taught to do for himself.

The upshot was that all missionaries became facilitators and all facilitators became missionaries. That is why we have the interesting double pattern of missionary effort in the Church. Young people fill missions early (late teens) then return home, marry, finish their education, spend thirty years working and raising their families, then they retire and take up residence somewhere in the world as facilitators. Some are young enough that their families go with them. The norm now at BYU is to retire at age 55 and become unpaid facilitators. Military retirees also go on “remainder-of-days” missions instead of seeking a second career.

The backup for these facilitators is the mission or stake library. In the early part of this decade the Church began to put resources into curriculum development, many millions of dollars. That effort was matched by technical advances which made economical delivery feasible. So the result is that any facilitator can go to a stake or mission center and either check out or send for a carefully constructed and sequenced learning package whereby one can learn to do every honorable thing or to understand any subject known to man and to be able to have it conveyed in a choice of media. When you couple that human and technical triumph with the spiritual resources the missionaries have, you can see what an overwhelming educational force that is. Ignorance and inability flee as the hoarfrost before the sun.

The result of this missionary-facilitator-educational push is that areas of the world are tending to even out enormously. The poor people in the world are no longer the despised peons. They are the stable middle class which sustains the commerce and culture of much of the continent. In a few years millions of people in the world have jumped from the stone age to the twenty-first century. The hapless in every nation now have hope, for there plainly is a way.

All of this has brought about interesting changes in the institutions of the church. Because of the melding of the missionary-facilitator roles and skills the mission training center were merged with the nearby CES institutions. In one of two years of college every young person, converts included, learns to be a facilitator, and thus is ready for missionary service. When they return, they are helpful as student instructors. In fact, they faculty of BYU has been reduced by half (they were sent on missions) and the difference is made up by student returned missionary facilitators.

As all of this was happening, the church schools lost their accreditation. To rise to the occasion, the church schools simply abandoned the whole idea of credit (which derives from credo—I believe) and replaced it with ability, I can do. Transcripts now state simply what the graduate can do. This plays havoc with transfer of credit, but that backfired on the enemies of the Church also. Because of the high quality of CES education almost no one transfers out. And because CES graduates are so able, they have no trouble getting into graduate schools or into jobs. But most of them go neither into graduate schools or “jobs,” the majority become independent professionals who contract out their services.

So that is why the Mission Training Center at BYU was merged with BYU. BYU became an MTC, and when the campuses in Mexico City, London, Sao Paulo, Hamilton and Orlando were built, they were constructed with a dual purpose in mind: a missionary learning center for the young people of the church and having the temple and temple marriage as the center of all learning.

Which brings me full circle. All of this power was unleashed by the glad entering into formal consecration by the more faithful members of the Church. Because of that faithfulness, the Savior provided the spiritual and temporal resources to make all of this a glowing reality rather than the vapid dream it would have remained otherwise.

By their fruits shall ye know them. Does all this convince you that that leap of faith, to consecrate all, is worth it? I give you my witness in the Savior that this not only leads to Life: It is Living.

Love,
Chuck

(BYU Graduate School Convocation)

We have come to that moment which the program denominates as a “charge to the graduates.” The root and original meaning of the word “charge” is “to lay a burden upon” something. How interesting that the “charge” most of us experience today is the charge card, the rationale for which is to relieve us of the burden of immediate payment. But the historic meaning penetrates this pleasant illusion of burdenlessness and we discover that to postpone a burden is not to escape it but to enlarge it.

As is is with charges, so it is with intellect. Intellect, the realm of words and ideas, has its own proper burdens. If these burdens are borne with intelligence and grace, they become the works that ennoble and exalt. But if the burdens of intellect are shunned or postponed, for whatever pleasant illusion, they become stumbling blocks that lead only to misery and degradation. I would then speak to you of intellectual honesty.

To be an honest person is a burden. It is strenuous labor, the most difficult that I know and especially so in the realm of intellect. I admit that most people do not find honesty to be a burden. That is because they are not honest persons. When I say “to be an honest person,” I do not mean being honest “most of the time” or “when convenient.” People who are honest most of the time or when convenient are honest on those occasions by accident; honesty just happens to coincide with the way they are going. To be an honest person is to be honest in all things, at all times, with all people and in all circumstances. That is an accomplishment which but few men have ever attained.

But if honesty is a burden, be it also noted what great works are fulfilled by those who fully shoulder this burden. The mention of one of these works must suffice here. The greatest need in the world, as many have noted, is love. But what is needed is not the idea of love, nor the hope for it, nor the disposition to desire it or give it. What is needed is that pure, selfless love which blesses and uplifts those whom it touches. Love can be pure, selfless and beneficent only in one who is an honest person. Let us further examine that connection between pure love and pure honesty.

Honesty is the ability to discern reality as it is and describe it correctly in symbols. The reality one must discern is both himself and the rest of the universe. The description he gives must be “true;” it must correctly represent things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come.

Pure love is the ability to bless people. It is to act towards another in a manner that deliberately contributes to the happiness of that individual, and to act that way consistently. Happiness is not a thing of one moment. We would not count a person happy who, though delighted at the moment by the fulfillment of his greatest desire, was at the next moment to be wrenched from fulfillment to be in pain and misery for the remainder of existence. Nor could love be pure if it did not countenance and contribute to the happiness of total existence.

Love then is the meeting of real needs, the affecting of the reality of our fellow beings through time. Since we cannot meet needs without discerning correctly both those needs and our own ability to assist, honesty becomes a prerequisite to pure love, a necessary though not a sufficient condition.

If people live by high moral principles, they do not need the restrictions or enforcements of civil law.

A society is strong and can meet changing times and conditions readily only as the individual members of the society are strong-minded enough to live by correct principles.

As a society dictates to its own people, as the wishes of the vocal minority are inflicted upon the passive majority, the climate for strong-minded individualism is perverse. Indeed, individualism tends to be punished.

Individuals need to be responsible.

Written in the Mesa Temple 12 March 1982

1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, might, mind and strength. Then thou wilt love each other far more than thou couldest in any other way.
2. Thou shalt use the name of the Lord daily to implore the blessings of heaven upon each other and upon your posterity.
3. Thou shalt keep thine eye single to the Lord, keeping him in your mind’s eye, that thou mightest constantly worship Him and thus fulfill thy main mission in life, to be husband and wife, father and mother.
4. Thou shalt remember the sabbath as a holy day, to draw thy family together and to teach them the wonders of eternity.
5. Thou shalt honor thy parents and establish the patriarchal order as the basis of your life and work.
6. Thou shalt see life as sacred, and bring life and beauty to all that you touch of the things of this earth.
7. Thou shalt cleave unto each other in the affection of thine heart, mind and strength, that thy love for each other might extend unto posterity as numerous as the sands of the sea.
8. Thou shalt work diligently with thine hands, thy heart and thy mind, that thou mightest provide sustenance and blessing for many.
9. Thou shalt treasure up the words of truth and life, that thou mightest share this treasure with all of thy posterity.
10. Thou shalt covet the work and love of righteousness and fill thy hands with it day and night, that the freedom to love and to grow might never be shortened unto thee or thy posterity into all eternity.