Rachel Ray's Guide to Garnishment

Quick recap: We are conducting a 4-6 week experiment on virtue. More specifically, we are taking one scripture and testing its veracity. The scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 121:45: 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.

My hypothesis is that this scripture is true. God is a god of truth and cannot lie. Therefore, IF we (1) are full of charity to all men and the household of faith and (2) let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly THEN our (1) confidence will wax strong in God's presence and (2) the doctrine of the priesthood (i.e. the gospel and covenants) shall distill upon our souls as heaven's dews. (Note my emphasis which points out that this is a logic proof. If A then B. A, therefore B. Now, of course, the scripture above is a little more complicated than: If A then B. It is, in fact, If (A1 + A2) and B then C and D. But the manner of proving is still the same. A (meaning A1 + A2) and B. Therefore C and D. (And though right now we are focusing on the B, we will come to A (meaning A1 + A2) as well. We will define/explain the rest of the terms like 'household of faith' 'wax strong' and how knowledge distills like dews of heaven, etc.)

We've defined the term 'virtue' to mean 'integrity and moral excellence, power and strength'. But now we have to define another key term 'garnish'. What does it mean to let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly? Once again, let's turn to Wikipedia for an answer.

Wikipedia points out several meanings:
Garnishment, withholding of one's wages by one's employer to pay one's debt owed to a third party
Garnish, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Garnish (fee), a fee paid by a new prisoner to other prisoners upon arrival at a jail
Garnish (food), a substance used primarily as an embellishment or decoration to a prepared food or drink item
Cocktail garnish, decorative ornaments that add character or style to a mixed drink

Some of these are obviously not what was meant. It is ludicrous to think that the Lord was referencing cities in Canada. But what about a fee or a debt? Is the Lord suggesting that virtue should garnish our thoughts, i.e. withhold something from our thoughts to pay for a debt? Or, could He mean that virtue is a fee paid by us or our thoughts (the prisoner) to other people or other thoughts? These just don't seem to make sense from the context of the scripture. For He doesn't seem to be advocating the removal of something from us, but rather the addition of something. This leaves only the last two possible meanings. And I tend to add those together; an addition to something. Let's go back to wikipedia for more on this topic. Under 'garnish (food)' it states:
A garnished crabcake: Garnish is a substance used as an embellishment or decoration on a prepared food dish or drink item. In some cases, it may give added or contrasting flavor, but a typical garnish is used to augment the visual impact of the plate, not just enhance the flavor. This is in contrast to a condiment which is primarily a flavor added to another food item. A garnish makes food or drink items more visually appealing. They may, for example, enhance their color, such as when paprika is sprinkled on a salmon salad. They may give a color contrast, for example when parsley or chives are sprinkled on potatoes. They may make a cocktail more visually appealing, such as when a slice of starfruit is added to an exotic drink, or when a Mai Tai is topped with a number of tropical fruit. A garnish may be so readily identified with a specific dish that the dish may appear incomplete without the garnish. (Emphasis added.)

Now that, to me, is interesting. Could virtue be an embellishment or decoration adding to our character or contrasting ours with the natural man? Have you ever heard someone says 'she just glows', in reference to someone who seems to have a light from within. That would be virtue augmenting the visual impact upon someone's spiritual eyes, as well as enhancing us. And, could it be that true followers of Christ are so readily identified with virtue (integrity, moral excellence, power and strength) that without them, that follower is incomplete? I believe this is what the Lord meant when He spoke.

Occasionally, I watch Rachel Ray. She's a tv chef--making food, selling knives and cookware, and, every now and again, discussing shoe heel heights. Now, on Rachel Ray's website she has over 45 pages of recipes that include a garnish of some kind or another. 45 pages! That's amazing. That's a lot of different types of garnish and ways to use them.

For our experiment, we are supposed to take virtue and use it like a garnish upon our thoughts. Not just every now and again, but unceasingly. And that can be tough. But that's the requirement. The scripture doesn't say 'occasionally' or 'when you are in a good mood' or even 'when it's easy'. It says 'unceasingly'. I'm guessing that most of you, like myself, fall short of 'unceasingly'. In fact, I'm guessing that most of us think about it quite rarely unless something points out the garnishment. (I.e. 'that's not very kind' oh--whoops! Add charity to my thoughts. Or, 'that was very honest of you' yeah, I'm honest. That sort of thing.) If you did keep 'integrity and moral excellence, power and strength' in your thoughts unceasingly you wouldn't be a part of this experiment with me. Instead, you'd be out living it and we'd be learning from you, not with you. And if that's you, I commend you. If not, take heart, we are proved in process of time. That means, as Elder Maxwell pointed out, it's a process and it's going to take time. Fortunately, throughout mortality, that's what we've got.

So stay tuned, our next blog will discuss how to keep virtue in our thoughts unceasingly. After that, we turn to specific virtues and how and when to add those to our thoughts. Finally, we'll look at the other parts of the scripture and put it all together. Throughout, I invite you to post comments about questions, successes, failures, thoughts, etc. We're all in this together. And as we learn together and pray together and for each other's success, well, that's one way to become filled with charity towards all men.