How to Make Friends With Mammon - Why We Shouldn't Shun People

How to Make Friends With Mammon - Why We Shouldn't Shun People

You might be familiar with the parable of the unjust steward given by Christ and recorded in Luke 16. 

In summary: An unjust steward who had wasted his master's goods was soon to be cast out. Recognizing that he had no place to go, the unjust steward took what remaining authority he had and forgave his master's debtors up to half of their debts, winning their favor. The master then commends the unjust steward for acting wisely. 

After stating the parable, Christ concludes: 

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Does this mean Christ is commending wasting people's goods and upheaving their business affairs in the aftermath?

Of course not. We often relate wisdom with righteousness, so I can understand where the confusion comes from, yet in this case "wise" is used more in the context of "strategically."And though the master commends the unjust steward for his strategy, I'm sure he is not happy with the the steward for both wasting his goods AND forgiving his debtors. 

The principle isn't so much in the conduct of the unjust steward in abusing his master, as it is in his conduct towards the debtors. Watch how Christ explains the principle:

"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

The point Christ is making is in having a backup plan so "that when ye fail" you still have options, and if you've failed your righteous master, then all that's left are the unrighteous mammon. 

And not to discourage anyone into thinking that Christ is saying "you're going to fail, so get ready." Christ still expects us to succeed, but he expects us to succeed the same way the God's do, with a series of backup plans in place.

How to Make Friends With Mammon

For the sake of having our backup plan in place, let's consider how to befriend those who have varying levels of unjustness, which is everyone here on earth. 

In order to maintain a friendship, just like any other relationship, there must be trust. All relationships are built on trust. Hopefully that trust is based on actual experience, however some people get into relationships hoping that a person is trustworthy. Regardless of how the relationship is formed, when the trust is betrayed the relationship ends. 

Trust is based on law, or in other words, what the person is trusting is that the other person is going to live up to whatever expectations there are for the relationship. Once a person does NOT live up to the expectations, the trust is broken, and the relationship is damaged and once there is no trust the relationship ends. These expectations that govern the relationship can be considered the "law" of that relationship.

Law means consequences for actions, and justice is the actual enforcement of those consequences. Someone might break a law, and not experience a consequence for some time. Bringing that person "to justice" means that the consequences for breaking that law are enforced on that individual. 

This means that in order for there to be any friendly relationship with anyone, that person needs to have some level of justness, righteousness, or lawfulness. Otherwise it just won't work.

Some people are 90% just and 10% unjust. They might treat 9 people fairly, and treat 1 person unfairly. Some reasons they might give for this unfair treatment might be: race, background, ethnicity, belief system, bad mood, gender difference, or any difference for that matter. The point is, for the most part they treat people fairly, however there are exceptions, and you don't know when you will be that exception. 

Dealing with 100% just people is ideal, however if we offend those relationships, 99% trustworthy is our next best thing. 

Sometimes people get in the habit of feeling "holier than thou" or better than others. This is essentially burning the bridges with everyone except for the 100%. Though it's good to have confidence in what you want to achieve, it's not good to burn your bridges. As uncomfortable as 90% just is compared to 100% just, 90% just is still way better than nothing. 

This means we should never adopt a "holier than thou" attitude. Rather what Christ is trying to teach us is to always be building a backup plan. If there is an opportunity for trust, law, and relationship, we should accept it.

This is also why we shouldn't shun people who don't have our values, or rather, our level of law. These people are our backup plans, and to whatever extent is possible we should live law based relationships with them.

Now, in closing, I would add: In as much as a person is capable of living a law based relationship you should accept it, but don't confuse a 50% lawful relationship with a 100% one. Trust them in as much as they are trustworthy. If in the process of creating backup plans you find that a person isn't what you thought, you have every right to dumb down the relationship. What's important is that you don't burn good relationships because they are not perfect. 

Chastity: Speed Limits for Emotions

Chastity

I was reflecting on chastity recently, specifically remembering two girls I had met who recently got pregnant out of wedlock. In one situation the boyfriend manned up and stayed, in the other the guy disappeared or was possibly unidentified.

In today's world of relative morals, it's not uncommon for many to be introduced into a society of reckless sexual conduct. And it's because of this I began to wonder how I would teach chastity in a way that makes the logic clear.

Speed Limits

Emotions are like driving a car. The faster you drive, the funner it gets. There's nothing wrong with this, in fact there's everything right with this, however there's one precaution: the faster you drive the more serious the consequences if something goes wrong. Cars crash and people die or are seriously injured. The equivalent would be pregnancy or emotional scarring.

Society has found that the common public can't handle driving faster than certain speeds in certain cars and certain locations. So we invented speed limits.

If one wants to drive at full speed, there is a vehicle and course designed just for that. One wouldn't be allowed to drive 100 mph on the freeway, however jump into an Audi R8 on a closed race track and you could reach almost 200 mph. This vehicle is marriage.

The Point of Limits

Some people wonder if they are decent drivers, how come they can't drive as fast as they feel comfortable? If they have a partner driving with them, and the partner is consenting, let everyone else drive slow and let them drive fast. The argument they give is "it doesn't effect anyone, so why does it matter?"

The reality is it does effect people. Here are some ways it does:

- Just because someone is confident doesn't mean they are competent. They might think they can drive at those speeds, only to find that a mistake has happened.
 
- Those who aren't capable of driving fast will notice people driving fast and want to participate. So you might be competent, but your example leads the incompetent into dangerous situations.

The reality of societies is that they tend to move as fast as the majority can handle, and at times the minority. Some individuals might be capable of moving faster than society, however the benefits of a functioning society outweigh the benefits of going solo.

Today's Emotional Speed Limits

Today's emotional speed limits have largely been eliminated, and the accidents are startling. From 1979 the percentage of children born out of wedlock has risen from 11% to nearly 50%.

If this continues, it won't be long until most children will be born out of wedlock.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10172627/Most-children-will-be-born-out-of-wedlock-by-2016.html

Standards Work

Even though society has dropped its standards, doesn't mean that the standards don't work anymore. If anything the results of society show that dropping the standards doesn't work. Time and time again I see daring, confident, and largely incompetent individuals put themselves into regretful situations.

People and Power

People and Power

In an earlier post I talked about the key to wealth:

Light
Truth
Knowledge
Power
People
Wealth

In this post I want to talk about power, and how it is central to the whole system:

First, what good is having access to the truth, and knowing the truth, if a person never LIVES by that truth and knowledge to gain power? The value of truth and knowledge is in the application of it.

Second, one might argue what is the point of power if it is not used to attract people and wealth? Which is true, one should make that the focus of their power, however, there is a factor in the equation that is important to remember which is the agency of people. And this is what I want to discuss today.

People and Power.

Power is ability and stability. Defined online it is the ability to act. Yet it is also the ability not to be acted upon, which is stability.

When we have literally no more ability to act, we are dead. Power is what gives us life. When we want to act, but can't because of a larger force acting upon us, we have encountered a boundary, and experience bondage. When our power supersedes the strength of the boundary we are free of that bondage. Power brings freedom. Lastly, when we have both life, and freedom, we feel happy because we can compare how we felt when we didn't feel alive and when we were not free but acted upon or in bondage.

In summary: Power is ability and stability and the key to life, liberty, and happiness. When you seek power, seek for truths that will increase your ability, and stability.

All people are attracted to power. Even the people who through religious interpretations shun power, as they suppose, still seek it in conflicted ways. In seeking power, people have two choices: The first is lasting and edifying to all who are involved, and the second is a temporarily shift in the balance of power that ultimately results in the loss of power.

Justice and Mercy

In the pursuit of further power people will trade their powers with each other, power for power. When this happens, both are edified and both feel an increase in their own power. This is called justice, which originally means: "the quality of being fair and equal." People will also practice mercy, which is giving power to someone else without thought of receiving power in return. The benefit of mercy is that it places fallen people back in a state where they can again participate in the mutually beneficial practice of justice.

Lies and Deception

Someone, somewhere, realized that sometimes they can get away with offering the appearance of power, in exchange for real power. When someone lies or deceives to gain power from or over someone else, the balance of power shifts for a moment in time, because it is not equal, and the liar receives more than they gave. Ultimately, the deceived person will realize that they were lied to, and will seek what was lost from the liar.

The last thing a liar wants is to be brought to justice (meaning equality, keep in mind that some people have distorted justice to mean unfair punishment, which is not true justice. True justice simply means equality.) so they will do everything they can to prolong the time that they have power. Prolonging this stage of inequality requires power, which they gain either by further lies, or by using up their stores. Finally, when enough people have been lied to and their stores are empty, the liar will be left to face all of the people who are seeking justice.

People and Power Revisited:

People are learning through their experience the realities of justice, mercy, and lies and deception. Some are just in some ways and deceptive in others. Some are very just and merciful, while some are very dishonest and deceptive.

In your pursuit of people and wealth through your acquisition of power you will find that you attract all of these varieties. The liars that you attract will not bring you wealth, or if they do, it will be a temporary exchange while they take advantage of others.

If you happen to live in a society that is full of liars, I am sorry, because by its very nature the only wealth you can obtain will either be temporary, or it will be the stores of other people.

In any case, seek out the just and the merciful. Personally, I would rather live in a society of two just and merciful people than in a society of a million liars. As the liars ravage the stores of the just, their will be great happiness between the small society of the just and merciful, because the exchanges will be real.

Learn How to Learn

Learn How to Learn. 

I've always been intrigued with the art of learning. When I was in high school I was specifically struck with the concept of "learning how to learn". I figured that if I spent a year learning the skill of learning, while someone else learned another skill that year, the next year I could not only learn their skill but a couple of others as well.

I've found that the most effective way to learn is identical to this scripture:

 D&C 38:2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;

As much as is humanly possible, the more one has things present before them the greater their ability to learn new concepts. This leads to an astounding confidence in what one has already learned, as well as a noticeable ease in learning new things. 

Here are some examples:

The Weight of the Unknown

When I was in Junior High I was intrigued with 3D Animation, to the point that I endeavored to teach it to myself. I quickly found that the softwares used in this skill were extremely complex compared to softwares that I was used to. Though I was up to the challenge, the shear volume of tools was absolutely overwhelming. 

When I first started, I followed online and written tutorials and grew confident with a handful of tools. However, remembering where things were in a sea of buttons was tedious, and I was always a little bit nervous that I might accidentally do something that would have irreversible results. I started to notice that I actually felt burdened by always having this sense of pre-caution. I found that the unknown carried a weight, and the more there was unknown, the heavier the weight I felt. 

Finally I was so tired of the nervousness I stopped the project I was working on and did something that changed my ability to learn for ever:

Open all the doors, touch all the buttons. 

I opened a new file and proceeded to click on every single button. I decided that if I happened to click something that broke the software, I would just re-install the whole thing. I opened every single menu, and would follow it to the end of it's options. If terms made sense I would try to remember them, and if not, I would do my best to make sense of them. 

I opened everything.

And the effect was immediate.

What at first seemed like a never ending sea of buttons and options suddenly had a beginning and an end. And what at first seemed scary and possibly threatening to a project was no longer so, I knew it, because I had tested it. 

My ability to work improved dramatically. Without the fear and pre-caution I was able to work faster and confidently. I could remember where tools were because they weren't lost in a sea of other tools.

The technique was so effective that from that day forward anytime I would learn a new software I would immediate open every menu and submenu to get a feel for the software. As a result, people started noticing that I could learn new softwares really quickly. 

I noticed that there were other applications for this technique. Buildings that I would normally get lost in were no longer confusing, and my confidence at social events soared as I learned everyone's name and information about them. When I would move to a new apartment or house, I would enter all of the rooms and open all of the cupboards and closets. I began to refer to the technique as "Open all the doors." 

Later in life I met another person who had a knack for learning. He too had learned the technique but had given it a similar but different name. "Touch all the buttons."

All things present

Though a full omniscience may not be possible in this life, the exponential effect of learning that comes through constantly collecting knowledge into one great presence is a fascinating concept, and is something I definitely think is worth striving for. 

The Secret to Acquiring Wealth

The Secret to Acquiring Wealth

Last night I had a very nice conversation with a friend in which was brought up the topic of acquiring wealth. Reflecting on my own experience, this is the pattern for acquiring wealth that I have discovered. 

The secret to acquiring wealth is:

Wealth - comes from people. It's people that build hotels, cars, restaurants, technologies, and goods that people want.

People - are attracted to power.  Power is security and ability. Acquire power and people will not only be attracted to you, they will trade their wealth for the power you can give them. 

Power - comes from knowledge. Knowing how security and ability are obtained allows a person to live in a manner to obtain them.

Knowledge - is a personal understanding of truth.

Truth - is how things are, were, and will be. 

Light - is a record of truth. 

In this context light is more than simply the light we see with our eyes. Light we see with our eyes is a physical record of the objects around us that our eyes and mind interpret. Similarly, if you have accurate records of things that are happening in your business it's said that you can "see" what's going on in your business. 

God's word - I personally have found God's word to be the most accurate record of truth, or light. 

So, in summary, the secret to gaining wealth is:

Light - Truth - Knowledge - Power - People - Wealth

I often say that one's quality of living is directly related to how much of God's word they can both obtain and apply. 

Evolution and God

Evolution and God

Evolution is often used in an effort to try and disprove the existence of God. I often feel that doing so is like trying to prove that the sun doesn't exist because of one theory or another, when the sun continues to blatantly shine.

God exists. I know he exists. Personally, I know this because he answers my prayers. The scriptures explain that he reveals himself to those who honestly seek him, sometimes in person, but more often through the Holy Ghost:

"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Doctrine and Covenant 88:63

I once saw a post where someone tried to refute that God answer's prayers. In his post he prayed "God, if you exist, appear to me right now!" and again "God, if you exist, give me a million dollars!" and then he went on to say that God doesn't answer prayers. If this petition were to me, and assuming I had the ability to both appear to that individual, and give him a million dollars, I wouldn't do either as well. Does this mean that I don't exist? I feel there is very poor logic in that author's comments.

But God does answer prayers. He certainly has answered mine, but I think it's important to have a correct understanding of who God is, if one is hoping to get answers. If a person were to label a rock with the name of deity, and pray to it, nothing would happen. Likewise if a person, like the author I mentioned above, thinks that God is an all powerful being who is somehow also desperate and willing to do anything for our attention and approval, that simply isn't the reality of God and, again, I'm not surprised if they don't get results.

Evolution and God

How does evolution fit, knowing that God exists?

To directly answer the question: I personally don't have enough information to say whether or not God created life on this world from simple organisms that he simply left to evolve into complex ones, or if he used a different method.

The prophet Alma explained that "all things denote there is a God," (Alma 30:44) which I would assume would include evolution.

Recently I was watching a presentation by a scientist who had spent many years searching for dinosaur DNA that he could use to genetically clone a dinosaur. At length he gave up, but realized that birds, being the long time descendants of dinosaurs, do have that DNA, but that over time the genes of their dinosaur parents had ultimately been repressed. The rest of his presentation talked about targeting the right genes to begin re-expressing the dinosaur traits.

I found it interesting that using the machinery that exists in our own bodies, we are learning to create different creatures by flipping the right genetic switches.

If we are capable of doing this, then what is God capable of?

Along this train of thought, there is a possibility to reality that I don't think some people may have taken into consideration:

Consider the following: Pretend you are born in a room without windows but there is a light. The light never goes off in the room because no one ever turns it off. You yourself are unaware that the light can even be turned off. As you grow you begin to gain confidence in your surroundings. You can recognize every object in the room and begin to feel good about your knowledge and mastery of all things that you are aware exist. Then one day, someone turns the light out.

It is the singular most scary event that has ever happened to you. Your world, not to mention your perception of reality, have just been rocked.

I mention this to bring up the concept that God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours. There could very possibly be natural laws, which God works by, that we don't even comprehend but that could turn the lights out on everything we have confidence in.

Is there any evidence that such laws could exist? The following isn't evidence, but just for example: Everything we know about the universe relies strongly on the law of gravity being in effect. This is a law that we know exists, but we still don't know how it exists, we just know that it does and we can observe the effect it has.

In scripture, there have been several instances where celestial beings have apparently not been affected by this law. If this same effect were suddenly applied to the universe as a whole, and gravity were to suddenly no longer be in effect, I imagine the impact it would have on our perceptions would be very similar to having the lights turned out in the room.

So I don't rule out the possibility that God just might have used laws that are greater than our understanding when it comes to the creation.

Evolution

In closing, I still think the study of evolution is important. I have found that because of our similarities with other living beings there is a lot that can be learned about the natural man that is useful in our learning to control it.

Having What You Want

Having What You Want:

Recently I read a quote on a friend's Facebook wall, it read "It's not having what you like, but liking what you have." and I interchange 'like' with 'want.'

I used to feel a lot of conflict with quotes like this one, because there are some things that I want, and in the past I would feel guilty for wanting them.

However I don't argue with the statement "liking what you have." I love the things that I have!

But I am concerned with the statement "not having what you like." I have seen a lot of people live in self inflicted poverty over it. I think it goes hand in hand with the view that riches are a barrier to Eternal Life, in contrast to the view that riches could be, but don't have to be, a barrier.

With that said, I don't think that anyone would hesitate to say that their are some things in life that a person might want that could be potentially harmful to them. In these cases, I would venture, their wants are based on an illusion of good, and if fully understood, would no longer be wants. For example:

A baby might see a brightly colored yellow and black bug that we know to be a Bee, and the baby might want to touch it. At this point, the baby is assuming that it is living in a reality where Bee's don't sting, but through experience it would quickly learn the truth. At this point, I wouldn't expect a baby to want the yellow and black bug any longer.

In contrast, if a baby sees a favorite toy on the other side of the room, a toy that the baby knows it can trust and has several positive experiences with in the past, I say, go have that thing that you want! The baby would then crawl across the room and be rewarded with yet another great experience with the toy.

So in summary, and in my opinion, having what one wants is actually a good thing and should be sought after as long as the want is rooted firmly in reality.