Of Commandments and Happiness

We sing a hymn, “How Gentle God’s Commands,” the first two lines of which proclaim—

How gentle God’s commands!
How kind his precepts are!

I suppose that the Ruler and Creator of the world, who offers us all that He has, eternal life (“the greatest of all the gifts of God”—Doctrine and Covenants 14:7), could require from us anything in return. What He asks of us is that we be happy, and He shows us how. Every commandment of God (here I speak of God’s commandments, not the commandments of men) is calculated to promote our happiness and guide us away from unhappiness.

Let us examine a few to illustrate. The Lord commands that intimate sexual relations be reserved for a man and a woman within the bonds of matrimony. This commandment, much disparaged by popular voices, would if followed virtually end all forms of venereal diseases, including the modern scourge of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the heartbreaking and life-ending consequences they bring. Abortion would also nearly end, since the vast majority of abortions are performed on unwed women. The social and economic trauma of children being born into one-parent households would similarly be dramatically reduced. And the deadened emotional wasteland caused by promiscuity would be avoided.

The Lord has commanded that we observe the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. The Sabbath is a day to gather with fellow believers in the worship of God. It is also a day to refrain from usual activities we would call work and focus instead on rest and acts of service to one another. Perhaps less observed today than ever before by the world in general, this commandment is particularly suitable for modern times. Increasingly, people are cut off from one another, associations reduced to momentary casual encounters. The Sabbath brings people together in pleasant association and sharing, with a focus on what uplifts one another. Furthermore, it offers a pause from the daily routine, giving opportunity for mental rest and perspective, a time for pondering, meditation, and preparation for renewed and more thoughtful endeavor.

A third example I would choose is the law of the tithe. The Lord commands the saints to donate one-tenth of their income. At first view, this commandment might seem all loss. Is not a person better off with 100% of his income than he is with 90% of his income? The answer to that is undeniably yes, particularly if that income were forcefully taken away, as in excess taxes. The tithe, however, is purely voluntary. The Lord requires it, but He does not take it. You still have all of your income, for it is by your free choice that you make a donation or not, much as with any other way in which you would choose to dispose of your income. That is important, for by making a freewill donation, you give of yourself and receive all of the moral benefit that comes from such a voluntary gift. That gift is not diminished if you, like I, have noticed that you have always received more back in services and blessings than you have ever given. After all, you could choose to be a free rider and never contribute a dime. Moreover, the law of the tithe is eminently fair. All are asked to donate 10%, rich or poor. Those who earn more contribute more, those who earn less donate less, but all are subject to the same rate. Through the tithe—together with the voluntary labor of the membership of a church without a paid, professional clergy—all have full opportunity and satisfaction of participation in the most important work and activity in the world today: sustaining the work of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

These are but three examples of many. I chose them, because they are among the commandments that some today might consider onerous. These, like all of God’s commands are rich and generous in their benefits. I have merely touched the surface of the benefits from observance of each of these commandments. God loves us, and His commandments are a bounteous example of that love.

Of Easter and the Resurrection of Christ

As we approach the Easter season, it may be valuable to reflect on the meaning of the season. It is, after all, Easter that gives meaning to Christmas, and the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ give meaning to Easter.

Few if any events of ancient history are as well attested as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His rising from the tomb after His death at the hands of the Roman executioners is a hard fact. It is a particularly hard fact to grapple with if one is of the mind that religious phenomena are “spiritual”—by which critics mean “unverifiable.” Their efforts for nearly two thousand years have been to try to change the subject or impugn the witnesses or make the reality appear somehow merely symbolic, allegorical, or fabulous. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ remains as startlingly real today as it was to the Greco-Roman world of 34 A.D. The emergence in the 1830s of powerful new evidence of the Savior’s resurrection from the dead makes objections to its reality impossible to sustain.

The list of witnesses of the resurrected and immortal Christ is a long one, spanning continents, ages, and sexes. It begins with Mary Magdalene, in Jerusalem, who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning after Jesus’ execution, expecting anything but to see Jesus alive once more. She was there to finish the process of anointing the body, which she and others could only hastily begin on Friday evening. To her wonderment and sorrow the tomb was empty. Rather than expecting that the dead was alive once more, her one thought was to find where the body now was. To a joy that none but she could describe, Mary was told by Jesus Himself that He was risen from the dead. Mary also became the first to testify of the Savior’s resurrection, as she quickly reported her experience to the disciples (John 20:1-18).

The record reports how later, in the evening, the resurrected Christ appeared to these disciples, who included at least ten of His apostles in company with others of Jesus’ followers. As if to answer future skeptics, Jesus made a point of the physical reality of the resurrection from the dead. First, to attest to the death, he had those present handle the mortal wounds in hands, feet, and side (the last inflicted by the Roman soldiers to assure the death of Jesus before they removed His body from the cross), as He declared to them, “handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:36-40; John 20:19-21) Next, to demonstrate the full functionality of a resurrected body, Jesus ate a piece of broiled fish and part of a honeycomb (Luke 24:41-43). This is tangible evidence, intentionally offered by the Savior to emphasize the fact of His physical resurrection, with a very physical body.

Sometime that same day Jesus walked for an extended time with two disciples as they journeyed to the nearby village of Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). A week later the apostle Thomas, who had been absent the week before, was added to the list of physical witnesses, as he in turn was shown the mortal wounds of the risen Christ (John 20:26-29). Again in Galilee Jesus met His disciples for a meal of fish and bread and then taught them about charitable service while sitting with them around the fire. To these and other interactions of the mortal disciples with the immortal, risen Christ, is the record in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that “above five hundred brethren at once” saw the resurrected Christ, to which Paul adds his own personal witness (1 Corinthians 15:6-8).

The Book of Mormon, first published in 1830, is another witness, from a separate people on another continent, of the Christ who had lived, died, and been resurrected far away in Jerusalem. Across the ocean, in ancient America, Jesus Christ appeared to 2,500 more disciples who became personal witnesses of their resurrected Savior. “And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom was written by the prophets, that should come.” (3 Nephi 11:15)

To these ancient testimonies, the list grows with modern day witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Add the names of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery, “That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22,23; see also Doctrine and Covenants 110:1-10).

The testimony is sure. You can accept it or not, but you cannot change the fact that Jesus, once dead, rose again from the dead, as He and the prophets foretold and as He and the prophets since have reported. With that knowledge, Easter becomes more than a quaint relic of just another “faith tradition”. It becomes a celebration of the greatest event in the history of the world.

Of Jesus Christ and The Joseph Smith Papers

It is hard to praise too much The Joseph Smith Papers project. This is one of those rare endeavors that will grow in value as it proceeds and as time goes by. Preserving and disseminating the early documents connected with the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days—before they are lost page by page to the aggressive corrosions of time and the environment—is worthy of every support and encouragement. The dissemination of Volume 1 being a great success, many eagerly await Volume 2.

With Volume 2 and succeeding volumes, the editors would be wise to resist the natural impulse to contribute their own thoughts and observations. Instead, they should get right on to the documents. In Volume 1 it takes nearly 70 pages before you actually reach the documents. In something that suggests editorial excess, the actual Papers are preceded by a “Preface,” a very abbreviated “Timeline,” a basic map, a “General Introduction” that runs for some 25 pages, a “Series Introduction,” a “Volume 1 Introduction,” a section on “Editorial Method,” and a “Source Note” that runs for about 5 pages more. Sensing the monumental value of the underlying work, it is as if the editors would like to linger for some pictures alongside the monument.

Some of this prefatory material is valuable and needed. A few words on what this is all about, the sources of the documents, and the editorial methods used are called for. The value of the rest of the introductory materials is not as apparent. Of course, many will choose to skip the introductory materials. Others will read them in the fear of missing something important. I read them, and having done so I can report that it is safe to skip them. Read them if you wish, but you need not fear that you need to do so in order to understand the documents. If you feel compelled to read any of them, then go ahead and read the section on “Editorial Method” so you can understand the various markings and typefaces that the editors employ in presenting the documents.

Yet, for all of their length there is something disturbingly missing from the extended prefatory sections of Volume 1. Perhaps I should more precisely say, Someone is missing. Read these sections carefully, and you will discover that the editors forgot to include Jesus Christ in the story. This is a curious omission for an introduction to a set of works intended to present the central documents—and many peripheral documents—relating to the founding and the founder of a major religious organization. I would have thought that what really gives these papers lasting worth is the presence of God in the work.

Do not forget that these papers have transcendental value—what makes them more than a collection of historical curios—because they are the papers of someone who unabashedly claimed to have been working under the immediate and constant direction of Jesus Christ, a claim supported by many evidences—evidences found in these papers and elsewhere. It seems to me inexcusably negligent not to include Christ in the story, for in documenting the work of His Prophet we look to see the hand of God and understand how God achieves His purposes through very mortal and fallible people.

You cannot tell the history correctly, fully, of Christ’s work on the earth while leaving Christ out of the picture. It seems to me worse than telling the history of the American Revolution while slighting the role of George Washington. Leaving the role of God to the side while attempting to tell the story of the Restoration results in a thin caricature, which is what the editors have produced in their essays. For example, their flippant treatment of the fall of such great church leaders as Oliver Cowdery and the treachery of Orson Hyde and Thomas Marsh take amazingly poignant and instructive real life tragedies and make them appear as inexplicable personal vendettas. Instead of a rich, insightful history that joins all of the sources of knowledge and information available, the editors have produced a crippled outline that too often does not rise above the level of silly.

The editors could have done so much better. Hopefully, their faithful preservation work will rise far above this error and save the materials to be used by themselves and other historians who will not fear to include spiritual information and truths along with all of the other valuable information to record a full and insightful history of God’s marvelous interaction with man in recent centuries. It is a rich treasury of history worth telling. You cannot understand Joseph Smith and his work without looking through him to the real Author of that work who inspired and supported and sustained the prophet Joseph (and those who followed in the years afterward), Jesus Christ Himself.

Of Incentives and Jobs

Weird things happen when we decide by law who should have jobs and who should not and we order how people and businesses should spend money. I am not referring to the legality of telling people who receive money from the government how to live their lives and run their businesses. I am referring to the wisdom of it. And by "weird" I really mean "bad."

On Friday a press release came across my desk, issued by seven travel-meeting-event industry trade associations. Their basic message was that the public beating up of companies over the meetings they hold and the incentive programs that they have for employees is killing the travel, tourism, and meeting industry and the people who work in it. They estimate that 200,000 jobs were lost in that industry in 2008, and a larger number of job losses are predicted for 2009.

Even the old communist governments figured out that workers respond to incentives. Under the power of incentives people work harder, smarter, and more creatively. They may even enjoy their work more. Sometimes incentives that take the employee out of the normal routine can be very powerful. If left to their own devices, businesses will experiment with different packages of incentives to guide their employees into the most efficient ways to accomplish company goals and objectives. Will they get it right? Often they will not. When they get it wrong, they try something else.

What is the best set of incentives, and should the incentives include travel and recreation programs? I do not know, and neither do you. No one has enough information, smarts, or involvement to know. You may know what works for you, but are you willing to say that others should be offered the same rewards or that you should be given the same incentive program designed by someone somewhere else or in some other line of work? Everyone meeting company goals gets a set of golf clubs. That may work fine for Harry, but how about for you?

While it may be lots of fun to rant about businesses sending employees to Florida for a weekend, do we have any idea how that might figure into the incentive programs in those businesses? If you take that option away, what other option will work as well or as efficiently? Again, I do not know, and neither do you.

Up until recently, I did not have to know or pretend to know. We left it for businesses and their employees to figure out. In view of the efficiency of our businesses--which efficiency continued to improve and lead the world even in 2008--American businesses have been getting the incentives much more right than wrong. When we decide to make those decisions for other people, especially when we try do so through government force, we can be pretty sure we will get it wrong. Who wants to explain to the 200,000 travel and tourism industry people who are in danger of losing their jobs why businesses should not be holding meetings in Williamsburg or San Antonio or Nashville? Step up now; a frozen turkey if you get it right.

Of Local Elections and Local Prosperity

What a politician does not say can be as important as what he says. An excellent example is served up by the special February 3 election for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, Virginia. The county is facing an astonishing $650 million shortfall between planned expenditures and expected revenues. This is clearly the most important issue before the county government this year, and probably for the next two or three years. Candidate Sharon Bulova gives the deficit short shrift on her campaign website. Actually, ignoring the issue would be a better description. That is despite the fact—or maybe because of the fact—that she has been chairman of the county budget committee for the past 17 years. Sharon Bulova is not talking.

In days of mind-numbing expected trillion dollar federal deficits, some perspective may be needed to understand how astonishing the Fairfax County shortfall is. There are approximately 1 million residents of Fairfax County. The shortfall, using basic math, therefore amounts to $650 for every man, woman, and child in the county. Another way of looking at the problem, the shortfall is more than the combined county budgets for police and sheriff, fire and rescue, parks and health departments, and libraries.

It is common to hear people blame such shortfalls on tax cuts, despite the lengthy evidence showing that tax cuts can actually increase revenue by stimulating economic growth and reducing tax avoidance. Sharon Bulova herself likes to brag that tax rates have been reduced by her in recent years. This is, of course, the sleight of hand that local governments around the country use to try to fool their constituents. When home prices are going up by ten and twenty percent each year, it is easy enough to reduce rates by 5% while increasing actual taxes paid. That is why tax rates have been reduced by Sharon Bulova and her friends while homeowners actually pay twice as much in property taxes as they did in 2000. If you have been living in Fairfax County during that time, ask yourself if you feel that county services—including schools—are twice as good today.

Now that housing values are in decline and businesses increasingly find Loudoun, Fauquier, and Prince William Counties attractive alternatives to Fairfax, a gaping hole has opened in the fabric of the county budget. Sharon Bulova does not offer a clue as to how she would address it. If she mentions it on her website, it is hard to find.

In contrast, challenger Pat Herrity has made addressing the shortfall the central issue in his campaign for Chairman of the County Board. The problem is huge, and the solution is not easy, but Herrity’s plan has the right elements. First of all, he intends to focus on the amount of taxes actually paid—not the tax rate—and he pledges to reduce the family property tax bill regardless of whether rates go up or down. Raising taxes in the teeth of a recession is foolish, unless you want more and deeper recession. He recognizes that back in the heyday of economic prosperity in Fairfax County a much larger share of county funding came from businesses because businesses were attracted to Fairfax County rather than avoided it. Making the county business friendly again is long overdue and will boost the prosperity of the county, its residents, and add to tax revenues. Herrity also calls for a restoration of budgetary discipline, asking what is needed, what is not, and how we can economize—normal budgetary practices that have become atrophied in recent years. In other words, Herrity seems to suspect that there may be more fat in the county budget than there is in the family budget.

Special local elections are notorious for bringing out few voters. If you like the idea of voting for your leadership and want your vote to count, it will likely count more in the February 3 election for Fairfax County Chairman than in many others. For people who plan to remain in Fairfax County, this could be one of the most important times for their votes to count.

Of Faith and Repentance

I received an electronic message the other day from someone trying to persuade me that, in essence, repentance is not necessary as long as one has faith. Such a concept is nonsense and little worth commenting on, were it not so popular. There are several ways to address this absurdity. I will present a couple.

Perhaps the first is to ask, faith in what or whom? If one means faith in Christ, then I would ask how would one have faith in Christ without repenting of the sinful way of life and embracing the commandments that Christ has given us? Can you be said to have faith in Christ and yet reject the walk of life that He commanded us to follow? Following that way of life is repentance.

Second, advocating that faith is enough, without repentance, is to use the concept of faith to avoid repentance. It is using the concept of faith to avoid doing what Christ commanded us to do, to avoid living the way of life He set out for us. It is to invoke faith in order to doubt what He said. I do not remember the Savior or His prophets ever teaching that. It is a Satanic doctrine that destroys both repentance and faith--and dishonors the Christ who gave us His commandments.

Again, repentance means changing your lifestyle, turning away from following your own faulty and rebellious whims and following the way of abundant life that Christ has outlined in His commandments. The doctrine of faith without repentance ignores the commandments of Christ. Faith means that you believe Him and trust Him. Men's actions derive directly from their faith in what will bring them what they seek. That is why James declares, "I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 2:18) Faith in Christ cannot mean disregard of His commandments. That would be faith in something or someone other than Christ.

I know of only one commandment of Christ repeated more often in the scriptures than the commandment to repent, namely the commandment to seek Christ. Jesus Christ has promised us that if we seek Him, we shall find Him. What do we do once we find Him? We believe Him and follow Him and embrace His way of living. That is faith in Christ. That is repentance, and that is life eternal. As Jesus said in prayer to the Father, the night before the crucifixion, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." (John 17:3)

Of Christ and Christmas Trees

In a few days we will take down our Christmas tree. We will remove the ornaments, the lights, the strings of silver beads. We will remove the angel ornament that stands now and each year of many years has stood atop the tree. As we do, we will retain the reflections on what the Christmas tree symbolizes for us. It may be the most powerful symbol that decorates our Christmas celebration.

The symbolism of the evergreen tree may be familiar to many, a reminder that Christ is the author of immortality and eternal life for man. The conical shape of the tree points the mind heavenward, like the spires of a Temple.

After bringing the tree into the house each season the first thing that I place on the tree, and the last that I remove, is the figure of an angel sounding a trumpet and holding a book. He reminds us of the prophecy of John, fulfilled in modern days: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:6,7)

The second thing that I do is cover the tree in lights. In my mind I am seeking to create a reminder of the stars in the sky, representing the creations of God that extend beyond this world throughout the universe, a universe filled with the children of God. As the modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, heard the Heavenly Voice proclaim, by and through Jesus Christ “the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:24)

I like to think that the strings of silver beads, reflecting the light of the tree, represent the sons and daughters of God joined together in their faith in and acceptance of the Savior, reflecting His light, resting on His strength.

On our Christmas tree, like many trees of many families, we have a wide number and wide variety of ornaments. There are cartoon characters, seashells, ballerinas, birds, pianos and other musical instruments, fruits and candies. Each year, high on the tree, is an ornament with a silhouette of the Washington Temple. Nearby is a small, crystal oyster shell with a pearl inside—a reminder of the pearl of great price that the Savior taught in a parable was the gospel of life, that a man sold all he had to possess. There are boats, bells, animals, and fairy tale figures. There are symbols of our free nation, the Senate, the Congress, the President, all elected to represent the people and preserve the freedoms of our nation. There are reminders of family and friends, gifts from grandparents, children, and neighbors.

These ornaments may be the most significant Christmas symbols of all. As diverse as they may seem, they are all part of the same message. From the Testimony of John we have this record of the Savior’s words, describing His mission to the children of God: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Similarly, the ancient American prophet, Mormon, testified two centuries later, that “in Christ there should come every good thing. 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” (Moroni 7:22,24). And so we fill our Christmas tree with memories of the good things that we have received—material and immaterial, intellectual, spiritual, and physical—all through Jesus Christ. Even while we put away our tree and its trimmings for another year, we set about gathering all the good things of that abundant life that Christ promised to all who would follow Him.