D&C 51: 3, 9

Wherefore, let my servant Edward partridge, and those whom he has chosen, in whom I am well please, a point unto this people their portions, every man equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs.

Let every man deal honestly and be alike among this people, and receive a like, that you may be one, even as I commanded you.

As the early saints became a community and gathered together they had to deal with the realities of every day - housing, food, clothing being the basic needs. Many were immigrants arriving with very little. Some were disowned by their families as they embrace this new religion.

The Lord asked them to take care of each other, to love their neighbor as they love themselves. They were called upon to be faithful, just, and wise Stewart's.

What does this mean for us, the law of consecration as they lived was abandoned a long time ago. But I also have consecrated all I have to the lord. I made that promise in a holy Temple and I take it seriously. Just recently Lynn and I rededicated our home. We wanted to be a place where all who enter feel loved and where all the things we own are used to bless others. We each pray during that we dedication - a lovely experience to share as husband and wife.

D&C 49;20

But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world life in sin.

This is the great sin of our day. If the wealth of America which amounted in 2019 to 92.4 trillion dollars - if this money was equally distributed to all Americans it would be $343,000 per person.

But the reality is that the top 20% own 77% of the wealth. And in that group the top 1% on 29% of the total wealth. Think about those numbers and then look at these statistics

9.2% of the world or $689 million people live on $1.90 or less a day.

In 2020 the covid pandemic added $120 million people to the numbers living in poverty

Who are the poor? Four out of five of them live in rural areas. Half our children. Women represent a majority. 70% of the global poor aged 15 and over have no schooling or only some basic education

Half of the global poor live in sub-Saharan Africa in nigeria, the drc, tanzania, Ethiopia and madagascar.

40% of the poor live in economies affected by fragility, conflict and violence. That number is expected to rise to 67% in the next decade.

132 million people live in areas with high flood risk

Poverty in the United States in 2020 was 9.2%. By group, flights have 6.6% poverty rate, blocks have 15.2% in Hispanics 13.8%

If you look at the poverty guidelines in the United States in 2021 by size of household those numbers are:

One person $12,880

Two persons $17,420

Three persons $21,960

Four-person household $26,500

Five person $31,040

This means that a person earning that amount of money or less is considered poor. But the reality of that means that if your household income is $12,880 and you were working full-time you would have earned $6.19 per hour. Likewise the two person would be earning $8.37, the three person is earning $10.29, four person is earning $12.77, and for the family of five that person is earning $15 an hour.  

These are the rates at which you qualify for help. These are also the rates or the incomes that come with no benefits too much of the time.

Say you have a mother and a father with three children making $31,000. If only one of those parents were working then that person would be earning approximately $15 per hour but if both parents in that family are working the reality is they are only earning and average of seven dollars and 50 cents per hour.

Income inequality is the Hot topic right now and you can see why. It reflects a spiritual deficiency because huge amounts of wealth do not bring happiness. But alternatively poverty is a great cause of sorrow, anxiety and depression.

There is a middle ground where basic needs are met and the daily worry over bills is gone. That is where the human spirit is free to grow, to create, to enjoy life. Everyone deserves that.

EACH EVERY ALL

'As we strive to lift those around us it is helpful to see each individual as a child of god. The word humanity is at the root of the word humanitarian. This means that as humanitarians, we work to see each individual as a child of god. Every person deserves a chance to have a happy and productive life.

Weather globally or in our backyard, we recognize a person's humanity when we

One. See individuals as God sees them

Two. Seek to understand their experiences

Part of having humanitarian eyes is seeing that the place that all humanity lives on hyphen our earth - is also taken care of. We are agents to act in valuing all of God's creation. "Facebook post on Latter-Day Saint charities May 15th 2021

D&C 50:24

That that which is of God is light and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

The symbols of light and darkness are used a lot in the scriptures. It is an analogy that we know and understand well.

I personally love the summer months when the days are long. I thrive in the light. It allows me to be outside - in nature - in God's world of creation.

But winter always comes. There is a melancholy that surrounds me as the days grow shorter and the dark hours come.

The lights of Christmas get me through december. Then I must consciously create a plan for january. By February you can feel the change has begun. Just the few little minutes more of light each day hold the promise of long summer days to come.

So it is with spiritual light. Jesus said in John 8:12 I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but she'll have the light of life.

During The Long Winter days our home is filled with light. Modern life has made this easy, we walk into a dark room and turn on a switch and there it is.

Life is often filled with darkness - dark moments of doubt, despair, desperation.

I have found the light I needed to navigate those times in the words and teachings of jesus. He has lighted my way through many dark nights. His words echoed through my mind so many times.

Forgive 70 times 70 

Love one another

I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.

Peace I live with you, my peace I give unto you

Come unto me, I'll eat that labor and are heavy laden

Bless them that curse you

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

As much as I crave the long days of summer, I seek equally and earnestly the light of the world.

D&C 46 Gifts of the Spirit ( Also 1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

Verses 11-12:

. . .  to EVERY man is given a gift by the spirit of god. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

. The gifts of the Spirit are given universally to all. My mother had the gift of being able to connect to other people. She could start a conversation with the person and the line at the grocery store and make a new friend.

Lynn has a similar gift. He is curious about people. He just starts asking questions and soon knows so much about whoever he is with.

I am more introspective. I like to do what I am doing right now - reading and studying and thinking about what I read.

We each have different gifts and to the extent we are open to others - all others - we are blessed by their gifts.

Think about how when you are on a committee you see that work. Someone will automatically start taking notes. Someone else will lead the discussion. Someone will start creating a plan. It's amazing how those gifts work together.

As you continue to read this section through you may be left wondering what it is talking about.

Differences in administration

Diversities of operations

The gift of tongues

The word of wisdom

This is a good example of looking for the principal being taught and then using common sense to apply this to your own experiences and understanding.

In the February 2002 conference elder Robert D Hales suggests the following:

The gift to ponder, looking to God for direction.

The gift to hear and respond to the spirit

The gift to be calm, to curb anger

The gift of charity

I find my own gifts mentioned in my patriarchal blessing. But I also have spent a lifetime coming to understand myself, to know how I respond to life and how my heart reacts and how my mind thinks. I see my gifts in those moments.

Now here is the best quote I have read about gifts of the Spirit!

"Spiritual gifts are traces in us of our divine natures, aspects of ourselves in which we more fully reflect our Heavenly Parents . . . I have seen how drawing on these unique gifts can bring us closer to god, perhaps because they call on parts of ourselves that are closer to God already."  BYU magazine spring 2021 page 24

Talk about expansive thinking! I think about my own gifts - my search for knowledge and understanding and peacemaking. Those are attributes of my Heavenly Parents! Wow! I share that with them.

Further in the same article, the author talks about ways we may feel the Spirit. It is the first talk that I have heard/read that made me happy and hopeful that the Spirit indeed touches my life.

"Forget for a moment receiving some great answer to prayer. Have you felt the spirit even a little as you have sought the Lord in prayer? Have you felt the spirit convey to you that God loves you or that he understands you, or that he has great hopes for you or that he sorrows with you or that he rejoices with you, or that he appreciates your gratitude to him or your kind deed for someone else? Have you felt the Spirit open your mind to help you learn something new, or turn you to something good, or inspire you to perceive something beautiful or reassure you that things will be okay, that you aren't lost, that God knows exactly where you are? If you have ever had any of these experiences or myriad others like them, you have effectively experienced our Father's plan of salvation in a grain of sand.

You have been shown that God is real, that your life has a purpose and that Christ atonement is making it possible for you to feel God's presence a little more fully.

What does spiritual thriving mean to me? Very simply, it means seeking, recognizing, and enjoying experiences with the Spirit of God. It means being mindful of the breasts of ways the Spirit moves us and then being responsive to its inspiration, perhaps by drawing on our unique spiritual gifts and perhaps by learning to perceive God's presence even when we are preoccupied by other concerns.

My conviction is that if you have experiences with the Spirit, even ones that are only still and small, that God is choosing to abide with you."

D&C 38:24-27

And let every man esteem his brother as himself, and practice virtue and holiness before me.

And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.

For what man among you having 12 sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently and he sayeth unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there - and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just?

Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable and it is even as I am. I say unto you, Be one; and if ye are not one, ye are not mine.

This is the scripture that precipitated the Personal Storehouse Project (PSP), a welfare project in our stake. Our stake leaders realized they have members clothed in robes and some in rags and they needed to address that problem.

I wish lawmakers on every level would do the same. No law should benefit one group over another and cause or support inequality. The job of the government is to create opportunities for ALL. 

Liberty and justice for ALL. 

ONE nation, under God indivisible -undivided. 

ONE.

D&C 38:24-27

And let every man esteem his brother as himself, and practice virtue and Holiness before me. And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.

For what man among you having 12 sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently and he say it unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there - and looketh upon his sons and sayeth I am just?

Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, Be one; and if ye are not one, ye are not mine.

This is the scripture that precipitated the Personal Storehouse Project (PSP). Our stake realized they have members clothed in robes and other members and rags and they needed to address that problem.

I wish lawmakers on every level would do the same. No law should benefit one group over another and cause or support inequality. The job of the government is to create opportunities for ALL. Liberty and justice for all. One nation, under God, indivisible - undivided, ONE.

(The Personal Storehouse Project was a welfare initiative in SE Michigan where mentors worked with struggling families to teach them the principles of self-reliance.)

D&C 33:6

And even so will I gather mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, even as many as will believe in me, and harken unto my voice.

Dictionary: Elect (noun)

1. Carefully selected - chosen

    Chosen for salvation through divine mercy

2. A select or exclusive group of people that have privilege that other people do not have

I find these two definitions interesting because number one is inclusive and can include everyone but number two is exclusive and suggest some are better than others. So what you read in this verse depends completely on how you define the word elect.

As a church we have used that second definition and I'm not sure it even makes sense to do so. Every person who has ever lived upon the Earth is a son or daughter of God - loved and cherished, with the same divine potential.

Yes, some people hear the message of the restored gospel and join the church. Perhaps we could say that these who are chose these are they who are chosen to do the work of family history and Temple work, the gathering of God's family. There is a job for them to do here that is meaningful in God's plan for his family.

But certainly God our Heavenly parents see all their children as elect, chosen, special. None more valuable than another.

They have chosen all for salvation. Our eternal well-being is their work and glory. They sent Jesus for all mankind. We - all of us - are there elect. They have their hearts fixed upon us.

Now it is up to us. We must now choose them. Our hearts must turn to them. We need to let our work and glory be the welfare of our brothers and sisters. And we have been commanded to love all.

So I accept that some are elected and chosen to be part of the restoration. And I also believe that others are elected and chosen into other of God's fields to do the work there. All are needed. We should always be generous of heart and think inclusively. How else can we build Zion?