Last time we “reasoned together” and came to two conclusions: 1. Pride is the great steppingstone to Babylon, and 2. Humility is the great steppingstone to Zion. These two ideas may not seem like much to you if you’re wondering how a simple character trait as pride or humility can lead a whole society to […]
Zion in Our Communities
Zion – Love applied to the realm of economics
In 1877, Brigham Young taught: “Supposing that the property of the whole community were divided today equally amongst all, what might we expect? Why a year from today we should need another division, for some would waste and squander it away, while others would add to their portion. The skill of building up and establishing […]
Are we all equal in the bonds of earthly things?
In 1873, Apostle Orson Pratt posed several tough questions in a talk he gave in Salt Lake City. His first question was, “Are we all equal in the bonds of earthly things?”. Here’s Elder Pratt’s background and answer to the question; he ends with two other very tough questions for us to answer today: “In […]
History Shows We Can Prepare for Zion Now by Building Cooperatives
My guess is that it will take us a whole generation, or two, functioning on the cooperative enterprise level before our children, or grandchildren, would be ready for the United Order level. Better get started, eh? If you’ve had any doubts to this point that “building Zion” is an economic activity, this should clinch it. […]
Last Topic of Brigham Young’s Last Sermon
In my search through the sermons given in Territorial Utah mentioning “building Zion”, I ran across Brigham Young’s last address. Thinking that it might be interesting to see what he had to say just before he passed, I skimmed through the talk and discovered the last paragraph was not a “keep the commandments” message, as […]
Is Just Singing About Zion Enough?
One fine Sabbath day while sitting in Sacrament meeting, I started logging how many of our hymns in our hymnbook mention Zion. Although I don’t have my log here in front of me, I do remember that 5 of the first 10 hymns mention it. But, I wondered, “Is just singing about Zion enough to […]
You Ready for Economic Equality?
I’ve broken up with comments a single paragraph below from a talk Orson Pratt gave in September of 1854. Let us prepare ourselves for the coming of Enoch’s Zion, that we may have the same order of things among us that they had in the beginning. Then, again, it will be a glorious thing in […]
We Have to Build Up Zion Independent of the Wicked
“We have to build up Zion independent of the wicked; we have got to become self-sustaining, and the Lord is inspiring His prophets to preach to us to lay the foundation for the accomplishment of this work. The day is not far distant when we shall have to take care of ourselves. Great Babylon is […]
Any Doubt Building Zion is Also an Economic Activity?
Sure enjoying reading all the Zion-related quotes by early Utah Church leaders. Here’s a doozy. Bet you can’t read this one without realizing that building Zion is as much an economic activity as it is a spiritual one. This is President Brigham Young: Suppose we should say to a few of the Latter-day Saints, if […]
An Economy of Joy
I’ve always been stumped by those who assume that we will be using money in Zion. Where does it say in the scriptures that a market economy is Celestial in nature? I’ve never seen any such scripture. If I had to guess, I’d guess market relationships are Terrestrial at best. In fact, evidence from the […]