You + Virtue = Ruby x n

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." (Proverbs 10:31) Maybe you've read this scripture and, being a modern day reader, wondered why King Solomon placed a virtuous woman's worth above rubies instead of something like diamonds or gold (which are considered today to be far more valuable).

Let's go to our handy friend, Wikipedia. Hopefully, that will lead us to some answers.

According to Wiki-, rubies are one of the four precious stones(sapphire, emerald, and diamond being the other three). Only diamonds and moissanite are harder (and really, who owns a moissanite ring anyway?) Rubies are very stable, chemically speaking, and are light-absorptive for certain sections of the light spectrum. All natural rubies have imperfections in them, and today that has led to heat-treating to 'fix' the imperfection. Of course, technology now allows for synthetic and imitation rubies. Rubies have always been very highly valued in Asia and were even buried under building foundations to secure good fortune.

Okay, so this doesn't exactly explain WHY they were considered so valuable, but we know they were. Elsewhere on the web I learned that rubies were once considered even more precious than diamonds (until diamond cutters' skill improved). Literature also details the ruby's worth (in Dante's Divine Comedy, it was a ruby which represented the glowing radiance of divine joy). And, a few years ago, a ruby sold for $19,600.00 (not a small chunk of change for one gem).

So rubies obviously held value and King Solomon knew that. And he obviously placed value in virtue. Why?

That's what I want to explore. There is a scripture which states "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." (D&C 121:45) Normally of course, we often think of virtue as synonymous with purity or chastity. But virtue is so much more than that.

Talking with several friends, I've decided to invite all my readers to join in a little experiment. The Great Virtue Experiment. For the next 4 weeks, I invite each person to let your thoughts be virtuous and then comment on how that changes you (if it does) or changes how you view your life and the world and people around you. Each blog will focus on virtue, it's meaning, what is considered virtuous by various countries or cultures around the world, and personal experiences regarding virtue. At the end of the 4 weeks, we'll see if we've gained confidence before God and increased our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation.

Be on the lookout over the next few days as we define terms and outline the scope of the experiment.