Of Obama and Ethelred the Unready

Arguably the worst king of England was Ethelred the Unready. He was unready to rule his kingdom, he was unready to promote its prosperity, he was unready to repel the invader. The chief manifestation of his unreadiness was his inability or unwillingness to recognize reality. Reality eventually caught up with him—as it always does—and with his kingdom—as it always does for those subject to unready rulers.

The current President of the United States, Barack Obama, may be working hard to earn himself the title of Obama the Unready. The evidence is accumulating.

For months, the novice commander-in-chief has been at a loss to know how to respond to the urgent recommendations of the field commanders in Afghanistan. They have been pleading to increase the troop levels. The added troops are needed to respond to increased enemy activity. Unwilling to say yes or no, the President vacillates while American soldiers die because they are stretched too thin. He seems to have forgotten that American soldiers under President Clinton were similarly sacrificed in another poor corner of the world—Somalia—only because Clinton did not provide enough troops to do the job. Rather than decrease casualties, insufficient troop strength increases casualties, soldiers who would not die if given enough support to overwhelm the enemy. This week the White House announced that President Obama is still unready to decide on troop strengths for the mission in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the Taliban is not waiting for him to make up his mind.

Also this week, President Obama gave a little speech about the economy. It was hard to miss the sense of frustration and perplexity in his remarks, made quickly as the Nobel laureate left town to seek more praise from his adoring foreign fans. He admitted that unemployment remains high, despite his economic program. He admitted that employers are reluctant to hire new people. He just does not seem to know why. His solution is to call a conference of economic talkers in December to talk about it. He remains unready to do something about his economic plans and government policies that are making it riskier for employers to take on more employees. Faced with half a trillion dollars in new taxes (many focused on small businesses), higher health care expenses from the trillion dollar “reform” program, new environmental plans to cool off the globe by cooling off economic growth, and dozens of other new plans to make it harder for businessmen to succeed, businessmen are reluctant to hire new people that they will later have to let go. All the while, the natural tendency for the economy to recover is weakened.

Consumer spending remains suppressed, while the Obama Administration and its friends in Congress pursue policies that make consumer credit more expensive and harder to get. Congress this year, with the Obama Administration cheering on, passed new credit card laws that make it difficult for lenders to have riskier borrowers pay higher rates. The result is that everyone gets to pay higher rates. Predictably, consumer credit declined by 15% in September and shows little sign of getting better. As we approach the holiday season, so important for the success of retailers, the Obama Administration and its Congressional allies are busily making it tougher for banks to run their debit card programs. Expect more debit cards denied at the checkout lines. Also expect the pace of store closures, already growing faster than swine flu, to continue to grow. Seen any empty storefronts at shopping centers lately? Be ready to see more, even as President Obama convenes his economic talk show in December.

Not to forget swine flu, the Obama Administration was eager all year to pump up the worry about a swine flu epidemic, in hopes that it might frighten people into supporting healthcare legislation. In the meantime, the Obama Administration’s health officials, who are heavily involved in development and distribution of vaccines (lawsuits that plague the medical industry have driven most vaccine manufacturers out of the business), were ready to promise but unready to deliver swine flu vaccine. Expect more of the same, of promises that do not meet actual needs as government becomes even more involved in regulating healthcare. Service and speed are what most people look for when they are sick, but service and speed are not what government programs are known to provide—any government program.

It should be no surprise that President Obama is not ready for the growing challenges of being President. Like Ethelred, Barack Obama had little training for the job. Governing has not gotten easier in the thousand years since Ethelred disgraced the throne of England. It is not getting any easier for Barack Obama. Fortunately for America, we do not invest all power in a king.

Of Modern Apostles and Abundant Life

As a child I remember pondering how wonderful it would be to live on the earth in the days of the Apostles. I thought that it would be a great thing to know them, to see their pattern of life, to hear their witness of Jesus Christ, and through them to hear revelation directly from God.

So it was a personal thrill when I was a young teenager to learn that Apostles of Jesus Christ live and walk on the earth again, that we are their contemporaries, that we may associate with them, hear their clear and unequivocal witness of Jesus Christ, to learn directly through them what God would have us know and do.

I have since met several of these modern Apostles. They have the same authority and power directly from the Savior that Jesus extended anciently to Peter, James, John, Paul, and others of the Apostles whom the Savior chose to represent Him to the world.

While these messengers of the Christ cross the continents testifying of Him, twice a year they gather together in conference and proclaim their inspired messages for any and all who would hear. Here are a few gems from their most recent counsel and declarations. Heeding their words will lead to a richer, more abundant life.

The Apostle Richard G. Scott reminded us that, “Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness.” He explained how to enhance our ability to receive that personal revelation.

The Apostle David A. Bednar emphasized the deep need for people today “to become more diligent and concerned at home by telling the people we love that we love them. Such expressions do not need to be flowery or lengthy. We simply should sincerely and frequently express love.” That may not be new counsel, but is there more important counsel for families today? If you could talk directly to God, would He not tell you to do that?

Another Apostle, Dallin H. Oaks, said, “The effect of God’s commandments and laws is not changed to accommodate popular behavior or desires. If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law.” He demonstrated how God’s laws are an expression of His love for us, guidance that shows us the way of lasting happiness.

The Apostle M. Russell Ballard had counsel for fathers and sons. To the sons, he counseled that they trust their father, take an interest in their father’s life, and that they ask their father for advice. To the fathers he counseled, listen to your sons, pray with and for your sons, and dare to have the “big talks” with your sons. Many of society’s ills today could be prevented by improving the communication between fathers and sons.

These and the other modern day Apostles of Jesus Christ said much more and gave further inspired counsel. You can find their complete remarks at this website:

http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1117,00.html

Perhaps their most important message was expressed by the Apostle Robert D. Hales:

As a special witness of the Only Begotten Son of our loving Heavenly Father, even Jesus Christ, I testify that God lives. I know He lives. I promise that if you and those you love will seek Him in all humility, sincerity, and diligence, you will know with a surety too. Your witness will come. And the blessings of knowing God will be yours and your family’s forever.

Of Life Before Life and the Offspring of God

One of the most ennobling and liberating teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ, restored in these latter days, is the knowledge that each of us lived before we were born. We lived in the presence of God as individuals who thought, learned, moved, spoke, and otherwise interacted with each other. We all lived as literal children of our Heavenly Father, members of the same eternal family. We did not yet have the physical bodies that we possess here in mortality, but we did have spirit bodies that are very much like physical bodies. These spirit bodies are currently united with our physical bodies and are an important part of what makes us “alive.” When our mortal bodies die, the spirit leaves the physical body and lives on, while our existence as thinking individuals continues.

This means many wonderful and beautiful things, among which is that the brotherhood of man is more than metaphorical. We actually are brothers and sisters in a very literal sense. It means that creation was not accidental but rather designed and carried out for our benefit. Even further, it means that our mortal life on this creation has a purpose related to our continued growing and becoming more than we have been.

On first encounter, the knowledge of our existence before this mortal life can seem incredible. It is generally rejected by many churches, even though it is plainly taught in the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments. The Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:5). Paul wrote to the Ephesians that the Lord “hath chosen us in him”, meaning in Christ, “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

This teaching is echoed by modern prophets. In 1918, the prophet Joseph F. Smith recorded that the children of God, “Even before they were born . . . received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the own due time of the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:56).

This important truth upon reflection resonates with our hearts. There is an immortal spirit in man, which leaves the body at death and continues on. Where did that spirit come from? Did it suddenly come into being at our birth or somewhere between birth and conception? If so, how so? Were our mortal parents, who were the creators of our mortal bodies, somehow also the creators of our immortal spirits? There is no reason to believe that they have any such power. That which our mortal parents gave us is born of frailty and imperfection and has its end in the grave. If the spirit lives on beyond the grave—and scripture and personal revelation testify that it does—then its source must be from Him who is eternal. The eternal must find its source in the eternal.

Paul taught the Hebrews that God is the Father of our spirits just as in our flesh we are the offspring of our mortal parents (Hebrews 12:9). So if our spirits came from God, is it hard to believe that we spent some time with Him before we were sent to earth? It is pleasing to think that we did, and it serves to raise the nature of man and validate how different we are in nature from all other creatures under the sun. The love of God for us becomes less abstract and takes on the intensity of a family relationship, beginning from even before the beginning of the world.

Of Medicine Shows and Good Health

The nineteenth century offered a fertile field for the traveling salesman. As Americans spread across the continent, retailers stretched to keep up with them, and in many cases that was most efficiently done by peddling. Services and goods of all kinds were offered on the streets and in town squares by men just off the last train.

Most notorious of all of these salesmen was the one peddling the miracle cures, the snake oil salesman, the man with the medicine show. While for the most part the traveling salesman actually had a product with genuine utility (whether it was brushes, tools, or buttons), the wares of the medicine merchant rarely worked as advertised and often harmed the very people conned into buying. Frequently, the miracle potion was laced with opium, cocaine, or some other drug that gave a temporary euphoria while providing no cure. Dangerously, the magic elixir could lead to addiction.

Since these medicine showmen were unknown to their customers they had the tough task of gaining the interest and trust of their audience. They did their best to look good and sound good and entertain the crowd. Most of all, they needed to convince people that they had a problem, a big problem, a problem for which, luckily for the people of the town, the salesmen just happened to have the solution. The facts did not matter; assertions and promises were taken for facts. The trick was to get people worked up and then clinch the sale before the customers had time to give a second thought to what they were doing or a chance to look into the details. Bring phony testimonials onto the stage, but do not let potential customers talk with real people who had been “helped” before in this or some other town.

The medicine show seems back in style today, employing all of the advances of modern communications technology to play to an entire nation. Barack Obama, sounding good and looking good and giving a good performance, remains surprisingly unknown beyond his shallow stardom. With the help of a legion of shills, he is trying to overcome the thin trust he has with Americans and convince them that they are sick and getting much sicker. He tells the people that their healthcare system is broken, and his shills repeat the line in the media. He promises that the government—which has notoriously abused patients trapped in existing government-run healthcare programs like Medicare, military healthcare, and veterans health programs—can do better than the private system that most people choose and like. And he claims that the price is right, that this government healthcare will be better for less, that the new nationwide government programs will save money even by spending more.

In the crowd of every medicine show there is bound to be someone with the nerve to holler, “Quack!” The salesman will desperately try to divert the audience, urging listeners to pay no attention to the nay-sayers. If that does not work, then the salesman will try to get the crowd to drown out the contrary voices and start the medicine bottles moving. Congress has been incessantly urged by the White House to pass the new government program right away, first by August, and at least before the end of the year, because, well just because. The debate is over, we are told; it is now time to vote. The plan fans who do not want to debate anymore are eager to silence the critics who point to the obvious flaws, who ask how government’s failures with current healthcare programs qualify it to take on more, how spending trillions of dollars extra will reduce costs, how cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare will not harm services. Do not slow down and think about what we are doing. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, the great and powerful Oz has spoken.

In the 1800s, the medicine shows did their harm, but most people were not deceived. When the quacks were not chased out of town, their audiences at last just turned away.

Of Discipline and Every Good Thing

God sent us to the earth to test us, to see whether we would do all things that He would require of us. Abraham recorded a vision he saw of the Father and the Son before the creation of the world as They discussed the purpose of the creation. It was clear that the world was made for the children of God. In that vision the Son, Jesus Christ, said to the Father, “We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:24,25).

The Father never commands us to do anything other than what is good for us. All of His commandments are designed to make us happy. Where is the test in responding to commandments like that? Here, do these things and you will be happy. Here is the earth and all its riches. Here is life in a physical body with the capacity to enjoy those riches. Here are family and friends with whom to enjoy all this goodness. Where is the test?

God made the test by making us aware of the goodness of things long before it would be good for us to have them. An important part of the test of life is waiting to partake of the good things of this creation until we are actually prepared to receive and enjoy that goodness. Dessert is after dinner. You can drive the car once you have learned and once you have earned a license. Sexual relations are reserved for marriage, when their riches are unlocked for you within the bonds of genuine love and within a family ready to receive and raise children surrounded by the security of loving and committed parents.

Taking of the good things of life too soon can often limit or destroy the value and the goodness, harvesting the grapes before they are ripe. You cannot put them back on the vine once you have discovered that they are still sour.

Passing these tests of life requires discipline. We learn to harness and control our appetites. It does not mean forsake the goodness of the earth; the discipline of God means to partake of that goodness in its fullness. Through the development of that discipline by faith in the goodness to which the commandments lead we become disciples. From the days of Adam and on into our day the disciples of Christ have been able to “lay hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:25).

Of Doubt and Faith

Doubt in the word of God has no place in the righteous life. It is the antithesis of faith. Spirituality and doubt cannot rest comfortably in the same heart, for spirituality—which reaches its highest degree in the gift of charity—“believeth all things” (Moroni 7:45). Doubt, on the other hand, denies things and challenges them to be proven. Doubt withholds belief until adequate proof is presented. Faith extends belief until it is superseded by knowledge.

That is, by the way, why genuine faith can only be placed in something that is true. As the ancient American prophet, Alma, taught, “if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” (Alma 32:21) Faith is a bridge of belief that carries the believer from one level of knowledge to an increased level of knowledge, therefore it has to reach something that is true.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is never on trial. Its very true nature places the individual on trial when he is exposed to truth. The individual is left to accept or reject the truth—to gain a knowledge of it through faith and then live it, or to doubt it or avoid it—but he cannot alter it, and the individual is blessed or condemned by what he does with regard to the truth.

The word of the Lord revealed through His messengers is true. Faith assumes the truth and leads the believer to act upon it, whether or not that truth is comprehended. Doubt takes the side of the devil and denies the truth until compelled to surrender pretense when recognition of truth is inescapable—and that recognition can be dexterously delayed for a long time.

The Lord continually urges us to gain knowledge, to search diligently, to prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You do not have to doubt something in order to prove it. Exercising faith in an unconfirmed truth converts faith into the vehicle for gaining knowledge, for verification, since by acting in accordance with a truth is a sure way by which the reality of a truth is revealed. It is belief in the accuracy of a map that allows one to probe the charted course, at the end of which lies confirmation and assurance. Doubt discourages one from ever setting out on the road, and until some faith is exercised to overcome the doubt the journey is never begun.

Indeed, doubt always leads away from knowledge. The doubting mind is only ever brought to knowledge when somewhere along the road doubt in some degree is overcome by faith that is exercised in some truth. Faith is the connecting link that leads us from knowledge to knowledge. Thus, part of the gospel plan includes inquiry, questioning, but it is a questioning illumined by faith, not shaded by doubt.

Of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave

Each verse of our national anthem ends with the stirring phrase, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” For nearly two centuries—this fall will mark the 195th anniversary of the writing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” by Francis Scott Key—these words have stirred Americans on the battlefield, on the frontier, in their homes, at their work, at their places of worship, even in the halls of government, stirred them to great and bold and noble action for the freedom and independence of our people and as an example to the rest of the world.

In recent times, in more or less accelerating fashion from the New Deal of the 1930s to an even quicker pace since the first of the year, too many of our governmental leaders have been trying their best to turn our nation into the land of the safe and the home of the careful. From the little child wearing a monstrous bicycle helmet as she rides her tricycle, through the proliferation of warning labels on virtually everything we buy or use, to the politically correct speech codes at work and on campus, to the honey sweet invitations for people to surrender to government control their health care and financial choices, Americans are in danger of losing the core of what makes us Americans: our freedom and our courage.

Freedom is the ability to choose, to make our own lives, to make of ourselves who we are and who we will present to God at the last day. Courage is the drive to draw upon the best within us and make the best and right choices, in spite of the odds, in spite of ridicule, to overcome danger. Courage is the father of all of our virtues, without which no virtue is possible.

When I was a child—not too many decades ago—my playmates and I often defended our decisions with the phrase, “It’s a free country.” I do not hear children say that anymore. Is it because it is not a free country, or that the freedom is not apparent, or that our children are not taught about freedom being at the core of what made the United States the beacon of hope for the world?

This November we will mark another anniversary, seven score and six years ago, when Abraham Lincoln called upon a nation of the free and the brave to a greater and continued exertion, so that “this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Is that call any less relevant and important and stirring to Americans today?