Mosiah 2:13-19
I'm really hoping to have some more time today, I was really into last night's reading so hopefully we can continue with that. Continuing on with King Benjamin's "Do Not" list for being a good leader:
4. Condone murder, plunder, stealing, or adultery. I'm going to assume here that the word that King Benjamin uses "suffered" in this context means "allowed" "condoned" "turned a blind eye toward" or "engaged in" these things. These are basic 10 commandment type stuff and this is the reason that I based #2 on, there are always going to be people to will try to do those things, to commit those great sins, and so there always has to be a punishment for it or else there really wouldn't be any law right? So if King Benjamin says that he didn't allow his subjects to commit murder, then what happened if someone did, and surely at least one person does in all societies, they would have to go to jail, and probably be put to death, and lesser crimes would probably be just put in jail, so there had to be some system of incarceration as punishment for large scale crimes. So putting all that together leads me to believe that, as was said earlier, the laws were probably exceedingly strict, and that there had to be jails, but #2 references the unjustified imprisonment of his subjects. And really the enforcement of "I have not suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness" must be strict adherence to the rules as well as consistent punishment for violations, because look at our society today, even in the army, there are many "laws" such as "don't commit adultery" but because there is no enforcement, EVERYONE does it. We can make laws all day long and until there is enforcement, there really is no rule. Now this is an interesting concept, the idea of adherence to the law followed by swift predictable consistent enforcement of the law, in order to keep order... hmmm... I'm going to have to think about this.
5. Heavy taxation - Here's another interesting concept, especially in the light of the political atmosphere in our society today. Like I talked about yesterday, there is no need for the king or leader or president to be living below the lifestyle of his people simply to be lower than them, and I also recognize the fact that running a society costs money. For instance, to maintain trade between peoples, there must be roads, who is going to build and maintain the roads? The government. Who is going to build and maintain schools? The government. When someone teaches at the schools and therefore has no time to run their own farm and harvest their own food, who is going to feed that person? There has to be a common pool of "money" that those who send their children to the school to learn pay into in order to pay for the teacher. It's this kind of infrastructure that makes a nation functional, and that costs "money" and those in the nation who benefit from those services should pay for them. So we've laid the cause for having some sort of taxation in order to make a nation functional, but then there comes the issue of wise spending of the money. I'm not going to get political here, but I'm guessing that by the statement that King Benjamin didn't want anything to "come upon you which as grievous to be borne" he was very conscience of the contributions made by the people and that he did not live a lavish lifestyle at their expense. So if you're the president then take heed, but how does that apply to us in our lives as the "not" president? The word "laden" is cross referenced with Ezekiel 46:18 which teaches that "the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression" which makes me think of how we oppress each other. Maybe a business taking advantage of people, parents guilt tripping their children into paying their bills, or in turn, children leaching off of their parents. Just some ideas here. The sign of a true leader is assuming the mantle of leadership as a heavy responsibility and shouldering the burden of those you lead. It is not a crown of leadership but a yoke.
Now we get into the "Do's" of King Benjamin's good leader list.
1. Labor with your own hands to serve others - this goes along with the "don't lay heavy taxes" part of the verse. I always thought that this was an interesting thing that he said here because I equate King Benjamin to the President of the United States, and I always think, if it's all consuming for an average family to support themselves, how is it possible that King Benjamin raised enough food to feed himself and his family, build shelter, get clothing, etc. It seems that this would make him unable to run his country because of lack of time. But again, applying this to our own lives, providing for ourselves, being self reliant, not relying on others when possible, and everyone has hard times, I'm not saying they don't, there are times when we NEED to be helped onto our feet, but forward progress is always very important.
2. Teach them to keep the commandments - this is done two ways, by example and by words. It doesn't matter what you say, it's what you do that has the greatest teaching impact on those around you. For instance, if you commit adultery, those you lead will believe it's okay. If you tell them not to steal but live lavishly with their money, then you will teach them to disrespect the property and work of others. So living a Christ-like life is essential when teaching others to live a Christ-like life, and when you make a mistake, like we all do, then admit it, make amends and move on. Then there is actually what you say, and this comes through, in our day, church attendance, Family Home Daytime, scripture study, family and personal prayer and just genuinely having conversations. Today was our Family Home Daytime and I wanted to have a lesson about the Sacrament, but what we ended up talking about instead was the first of what I can only imagine will be many discussions about people talking about you behind your back and how to handle it. My daughter is 8 and she said that one of her friends at school told another friend that my daughter is "annoying" and that she didn't want her to be in girl scouts anymore because of how annoying she is. My daughter was really hurt by this and I can understand why, it's hard to hear negative things about yourself, especially when it's not true, and especially when it's from someone who was supposed to be your friend. But I think she took the lesson well, I told her "who was the only perfect person?" "Jesus." "And was he super nice to everyone?" "Yes," "and because he was so nice and helped others did everyone love him?" "No, they killed him." "Exactly, they killed him, and who told those people to kill him?" "Satan," "that's right, satan. When satan tells a righteous person to be mean to someone, does the righteous person do it?" "No," "no they don't. But when satan tells a person who is either wicked, or unhappy, or feels bad about themselves, to do something mean, do they do it?" "Yes," "so do you think the girl who said that mean thing about you is happy or sad inside?" "Sad," "That's right, she's very sad inside. People who are happy don't say mean things about others. Do you think Jesus would stay mad at her?" "No, he would be nice to her." "That's right, he would forgive her and continue to be kind to her." I was so proud of my kids who had these amazingly mature thoughts and understood the logic here. I'm sure that was super annoying to read, but I loved that she followed and engaged me in conversation and that it wasn't just a lecture to her. But even though she recognized that she still needed to be nice to the other girl, she didn't understand why it was important to let go of the anger. So I explained to her that holding on to anger doesn't change the opinion of anyone else, it only hurts you. I asked her, "if you're angry with someone, or you say something to someone about them not being nice, or not following the rules, will they change their mind and say 'you're right, thank you' and start being a good person?" "No they won't, they will keep being mean." "So what's the only way that you can help change a persons mind about being mean?" "Be nice to them." Oh my goodness, my whole life as mother was just validated in that moment. I taught an amazingly deep lesson to my young daughter that she will face everyday of her life, a lesson that I learned as an adult after much suffering and anger. I really hope that she will be able to embody this lesson and take it to heart while she's still young so that she will have peace within herself and feel closer to the Savior. But again, I taught her this lesson by speaking, but also by example. I make a concerted effort to not bad mouth ANYONE around my kids, which in turn means I try not to do it in general to anyone, I don't always succeed at this goal, but I do try. I don't hold grudges, I don't use the word "hate" very much, except for snakes and peanut butter, I truly hate those things. I try to be positive and have a "ok, let's just chill out" attitude, I try to help others, especially if my children are watching, etc. This is the greatest of all teaching tools, and this is what gives me credibility with my children.
2:17-19 - Here is the great "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." This is truly a life changing verse, and it goes along with the teaching of the Savior in Matthew 25:40 "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." King Benjamin's version of this teaching came almost 150 years before the Savior spoke it to the Jews, and at that time it was a revolutionary concept. This makes the idea of service hit a little closer to home, in that, while building the attitude of perpetual service, we can imagine ourselves actually serving Jesus Christ with every act. This is one view that shaped the way that I treat patients, especially in the beginning when I worked at the county hospital and the vast majority of our patients were homeless or drug addicts or inmates. When I started to cop an attitude or get all high and mighty, I would think "what if you found out afterward that this was the Savior in disguise, how would you feel about the way you treated him?" And this was how I started my attitude change about helping people, and now it's just second nature. You know, reading this blog, I probably make myself sound like I'm an absolutely amazing awesome person, and I'm a little bit biased too but please understand that I am seriously flawed, I am infantile spiritually, and usually feel like I'm drowning in life. So every time I start to sound self righteous and I don't catch it, please remember that. This verse has 101 citations in the index and it's amazing, I just randomly picked one and of course I love it, very profound, it's from President Thomas S. Monson in an October 2006 general conference address entitled "How Firm a Foundation." He says "This is the service that counts, the service to which all of us have been called: the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save." Service is not a passive pursuit, it's not something that we can wait for someone to tell us what to do, sure there will be those opportunities but they will not come as readily as those that take our attention to recognize. If we are constantly on the look out for people to help, then we will find people to help, helping an older woman get a shopping cart, picking up some papers that were dropped and blowing in the wind, smiling at a stranger, asking an acquaintance how there day is going, telling someone they are doing a good job when they seem overwhelmed. These are the opportunities that we can find every single day to be kind to others and to serve them. And we not only draw closer to the Savior himself, he pours blessings out upon us, and gives us a peace and security and joy that is obtained no other way.
4. Condone murder, plunder, stealing, or adultery. I'm going to assume here that the word that King Benjamin uses "suffered" in this context means "allowed" "condoned" "turned a blind eye toward" or "engaged in" these things. These are basic 10 commandment type stuff and this is the reason that I based #2 on, there are always going to be people to will try to do those things, to commit those great sins, and so there always has to be a punishment for it or else there really wouldn't be any law right? So if King Benjamin says that he didn't allow his subjects to commit murder, then what happened if someone did, and surely at least one person does in all societies, they would have to go to jail, and probably be put to death, and lesser crimes would probably be just put in jail, so there had to be some system of incarceration as punishment for large scale crimes. So putting all that together leads me to believe that, as was said earlier, the laws were probably exceedingly strict, and that there had to be jails, but #2 references the unjustified imprisonment of his subjects. And really the enforcement of "I have not suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness" must be strict adherence to the rules as well as consistent punishment for violations, because look at our society today, even in the army, there are many "laws" such as "don't commit adultery" but because there is no enforcement, EVERYONE does it. We can make laws all day long and until there is enforcement, there really is no rule. Now this is an interesting concept, the idea of adherence to the law followed by swift predictable consistent enforcement of the law, in order to keep order... hmmm... I'm going to have to think about this.
5. Heavy taxation - Here's another interesting concept, especially in the light of the political atmosphere in our society today. Like I talked about yesterday, there is no need for the king or leader or president to be living below the lifestyle of his people simply to be lower than them, and I also recognize the fact that running a society costs money. For instance, to maintain trade between peoples, there must be roads, who is going to build and maintain the roads? The government. Who is going to build and maintain schools? The government. When someone teaches at the schools and therefore has no time to run their own farm and harvest their own food, who is going to feed that person? There has to be a common pool of "money" that those who send their children to the school to learn pay into in order to pay for the teacher. It's this kind of infrastructure that makes a nation functional, and that costs "money" and those in the nation who benefit from those services should pay for them. So we've laid the cause for having some sort of taxation in order to make a nation functional, but then there comes the issue of wise spending of the money. I'm not going to get political here, but I'm guessing that by the statement that King Benjamin didn't want anything to "come upon you which as grievous to be borne" he was very conscience of the contributions made by the people and that he did not live a lavish lifestyle at their expense. So if you're the president then take heed, but how does that apply to us in our lives as the "not" president? The word "laden" is cross referenced with Ezekiel 46:18 which teaches that "the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression" which makes me think of how we oppress each other. Maybe a business taking advantage of people, parents guilt tripping their children into paying their bills, or in turn, children leaching off of their parents. Just some ideas here. The sign of a true leader is assuming the mantle of leadership as a heavy responsibility and shouldering the burden of those you lead. It is not a crown of leadership but a yoke.
Now we get into the "Do's" of King Benjamin's good leader list.
1. Labor with your own hands to serve others - this goes along with the "don't lay heavy taxes" part of the verse. I always thought that this was an interesting thing that he said here because I equate King Benjamin to the President of the United States, and I always think, if it's all consuming for an average family to support themselves, how is it possible that King Benjamin raised enough food to feed himself and his family, build shelter, get clothing, etc. It seems that this would make him unable to run his country because of lack of time. But again, applying this to our own lives, providing for ourselves, being self reliant, not relying on others when possible, and everyone has hard times, I'm not saying they don't, there are times when we NEED to be helped onto our feet, but forward progress is always very important.
2. Teach them to keep the commandments - this is done two ways, by example and by words. It doesn't matter what you say, it's what you do that has the greatest teaching impact on those around you. For instance, if you commit adultery, those you lead will believe it's okay. If you tell them not to steal but live lavishly with their money, then you will teach them to disrespect the property and work of others. So living a Christ-like life is essential when teaching others to live a Christ-like life, and when you make a mistake, like we all do, then admit it, make amends and move on. Then there is actually what you say, and this comes through, in our day, church attendance, Family Home Daytime, scripture study, family and personal prayer and just genuinely having conversations. Today was our Family Home Daytime and I wanted to have a lesson about the Sacrament, but what we ended up talking about instead was the first of what I can only imagine will be many discussions about people talking about you behind your back and how to handle it. My daughter is 8 and she said that one of her friends at school told another friend that my daughter is "annoying" and that she didn't want her to be in girl scouts anymore because of how annoying she is. My daughter was really hurt by this and I can understand why, it's hard to hear negative things about yourself, especially when it's not true, and especially when it's from someone who was supposed to be your friend. But I think she took the lesson well, I told her "who was the only perfect person?" "Jesus." "And was he super nice to everyone?" "Yes," "and because he was so nice and helped others did everyone love him?" "No, they killed him." "Exactly, they killed him, and who told those people to kill him?" "Satan," "that's right, satan. When satan tells a righteous person to be mean to someone, does the righteous person do it?" "No," "no they don't. But when satan tells a person who is either wicked, or unhappy, or feels bad about themselves, to do something mean, do they do it?" "Yes," "so do you think the girl who said that mean thing about you is happy or sad inside?" "Sad," "That's right, she's very sad inside. People who are happy don't say mean things about others. Do you think Jesus would stay mad at her?" "No, he would be nice to her." "That's right, he would forgive her and continue to be kind to her." I was so proud of my kids who had these amazingly mature thoughts and understood the logic here. I'm sure that was super annoying to read, but I loved that she followed and engaged me in conversation and that it wasn't just a lecture to her. But even though she recognized that she still needed to be nice to the other girl, she didn't understand why it was important to let go of the anger. So I explained to her that holding on to anger doesn't change the opinion of anyone else, it only hurts you. I asked her, "if you're angry with someone, or you say something to someone about them not being nice, or not following the rules, will they change their mind and say 'you're right, thank you' and start being a good person?" "No they won't, they will keep being mean." "So what's the only way that you can help change a persons mind about being mean?" "Be nice to them." Oh my goodness, my whole life as mother was just validated in that moment. I taught an amazingly deep lesson to my young daughter that she will face everyday of her life, a lesson that I learned as an adult after much suffering and anger. I really hope that she will be able to embody this lesson and take it to heart while she's still young so that she will have peace within herself and feel closer to the Savior. But again, I taught her this lesson by speaking, but also by example. I make a concerted effort to not bad mouth ANYONE around my kids, which in turn means I try not to do it in general to anyone, I don't always succeed at this goal, but I do try. I don't hold grudges, I don't use the word "hate" very much, except for snakes and peanut butter, I truly hate those things. I try to be positive and have a "ok, let's just chill out" attitude, I try to help others, especially if my children are watching, etc. This is the greatest of all teaching tools, and this is what gives me credibility with my children.
2:17-19 - Here is the great "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." This is truly a life changing verse, and it goes along with the teaching of the Savior in Matthew 25:40 "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." King Benjamin's version of this teaching came almost 150 years before the Savior spoke it to the Jews, and at that time it was a revolutionary concept. This makes the idea of service hit a little closer to home, in that, while building the attitude of perpetual service, we can imagine ourselves actually serving Jesus Christ with every act. This is one view that shaped the way that I treat patients, especially in the beginning when I worked at the county hospital and the vast majority of our patients were homeless or drug addicts or inmates. When I started to cop an attitude or get all high and mighty, I would think "what if you found out afterward that this was the Savior in disguise, how would you feel about the way you treated him?" And this was how I started my attitude change about helping people, and now it's just second nature. You know, reading this blog, I probably make myself sound like I'm an absolutely amazing awesome person, and I'm a little bit biased too but please understand that I am seriously flawed, I am infantile spiritually, and usually feel like I'm drowning in life. So every time I start to sound self righteous and I don't catch it, please remember that. This verse has 101 citations in the index and it's amazing, I just randomly picked one and of course I love it, very profound, it's from President Thomas S. Monson in an October 2006 general conference address entitled "How Firm a Foundation." He says "This is the service that counts, the service to which all of us have been called: the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save." Service is not a passive pursuit, it's not something that we can wait for someone to tell us what to do, sure there will be those opportunities but they will not come as readily as those that take our attention to recognize. If we are constantly on the look out for people to help, then we will find people to help, helping an older woman get a shopping cart, picking up some papers that were dropped and blowing in the wind, smiling at a stranger, asking an acquaintance how there day is going, telling someone they are doing a good job when they seem overwhelmed. These are the opportunities that we can find every single day to be kind to others and to serve them. And we not only draw closer to the Savior himself, he pours blessings out upon us, and gives us a peace and security and joy that is obtained no other way.
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