Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Death Knell of Titles

Have you noticed how no one calls each other Mr. and Ms. anymore? Or brother or sister? It's always, 'johnny', 'deb', or even 'hey dude' no matter how old someone is in comparison to you or how much more advanced up the company ladder they are. Even the boss doesn't want to be referred to with a title anymore. It's like Queen Elizabeth wants you to just call her Liza or Betty. And it frankly trips me out.

Take my new job for exammple. Yesterday the regional boss came in. I had to ask her a question via e-mail and started it out 'ms...' She laughed out loud and then came over to find out if I had meant to call her that or just forgotten her name. Apparently, my parents were the last people on earth to teach kids to never call an adult or boss by their first name. And that's too bad. Because truthfully, I think people are better off with a bit of formality.

But I could be wrong.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well readers, tomorrow is the six week mark for our experiment. I don't know if it made a difference for you, but it sure did for me. Not only did it expand the way I look at a lot of different scriptures and virtues, but it gave me the chance to think about what I think of God, who He is, and by extension, who I am as His daughter. And who I should/could be.

I have to be honest with you, the harder I tried to be virtuous, the harder the opposition tried to distract me or completely crush me or tempt me not to have virtuous thoughts.

In one way, that was rough. But in another, it was wonderful to see that I was trying enough to get on the radar. And, it was nice to feel the promptings of the Spirit remind me of what I was doing and why.

This won't be the end. Instead, I think this will be something I continue to work on for the rest of my life.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Remember, Remember

Do you remember running around your school gym during p.e. class and being told not to think about a white polar bear? As soon as you did, you were supposed to stop running. Needless to say, it didn't take long before we all stopped running. (Although the smart kids would've realized it was a great way to get out of running. Guess we know which category I fell in. Not the brightest crayola in the box. Alas.)

This experiment seems to be the concept in reverse. Instead of remembering within a few seconds of getting your sneakers to the floor, you forget. I think this is because of two reasons: 1) unceasing virtue isn't something we have down yet and 2) as you attempt to increase the light, you will have a corresponding increase in darkness around you.

Here's what I mean. First of all, I have trouble remembering my grocery list if I don't write it down. I'll get a lot of it, but I may pick up something I didn't need or forget one item I did. How often do you think of a mental 'to do' list and get through the day only to realize you forgot an item or two? None of us can keep something in our head constantly. Our very nature causes us to be distracted. Without some kind of reminder, we will forget the experiment at least once or twice. And, unfortunately, that's all the opposition needs. And that's the second part of this. Have you noticed how much more people are rude or a situation is aggravating? I sure have. And that makes sense. If you are really trying to be patient, kind, loving, honest, etc. then you will have opposition helping to create a situation that encourages you to be impatient, mean, cruel, or lie. (But on the plus side, it means you've got someone's attention. The 'bloody knuckle complement' as it were. By trying to be a force for good, you are now on the bad guy's radar.)

So how to solve both problems?

Well, for memory, I think an apt illustration is from the Bible. Peter, walking on water. We all know this story. The apostles see who they think is the Savior, walking on water in the middle of a storm, on a lake. Peter is invited to come walk on water and he does. Until he looks at the waves, gets scared, and starts to drown. At which point, the Savior saves him. My point: we have to keep our eyes on the prize. An ealier post had a great comment from Lizzie. She writes some form of the word 'virtue' and places it where she can see it throughout the day. This is a great idea. But what if you don't have a daily schedule that allows for that? What if you spend your day dancing while holding up a business sign? Then what? Well, if you listen to music, you could make sure your play list only includes songs that are virtuous. But no matter what you do each day, you can always start and end your day with scripture and prayer. And pray specifically for promptings from the Spirit regarding virtue. (I've done this and had this over the course of this experiment.) If you have a place to put a picture of the Savior, that may be another idea. Have more? Let us know. We're all in this together.

Now to the opposition problem. Some of this, let's be honest, is our own fault. Our actions and choices can antagonize someone or hurt someone. Should we be surprised when our relationship with them is then damaged? If we react in anger, well, that only escalates the problem. So first, we can pray for wisdom. But sometimes, no matter how well we try to do, we have negative feelings in us. In fact, I'd venture to guess that there are those out there who like to antagonize people just because they like to get a rise out of someone or they like to show off their verbal or intellectual prowess or they think it makes them important or included. Whatever their reasoning or motivation, it really doesn't change the fact that they are now part of a mounting opposition working on frustrating our attempts to be virtuous. What to do, what to do?

Now the obvious concept of a baseball bat, a brick to the back of the head, or even throttling are neither virtuous nor good ideas. Virtue will not cause you to end up in an orange jumpsuit. If it does, please let me know b/c that would be a first. So then what? You can either act by saying something/doing something or you can act by not saying something/not doing something. Either way, it's your choice and it is a choice. And their will be consequences. Sometimes speaking only gets you a lecture or silence only leads to increased attacks. I've experienced both but I've also experienced how silence can cause someone to change or how talking things through clears up stuff. To know what is best, pray for guidance, and follow your promptings.

This may solve problems of virtue regarding other mortals but it won't solve the problem you have with Uncle Luoie (yes, that is short for Lucifer). You can't reason with him and you can't be silent and hope he goes away. He won't. The best thing to do? Again, let's turn to the scriptures for the answers. Moses gives us a good example. You refuse to obey him or give in to vice, you denounce him, declare your allegiance to the Savior, pray like crazy. Or, you do like Joseph of Egypt, you declare your standards and then run like heck the other way. What you do not do, is hang out with the vice and get on a first name basis with it, in some misguided attempt to prove how 'strong' you are and how long you can resist. Didn't work for King David and it won't for you. I have a friend who has a friend who is married. And her husband has struggled with pornography. So his solution? On a Sunday, go sit in his car in the parking lot of a strip club to see how long he can resist not going in. Is anyone surprised by what happened afterwards? Foolish. If you don't want to get dirty, don't play in the mud. Sure, someone will always throw mud on you. But the difference is that you may not be able to control psycho mud-slinger's actions. You can control yours. And you are accountable for your's. As for someone else--how about putting on a slicker? The mud hits the waterproof yellow coat and just shucks right off of you. You are still clean. What's our metaphorical yellow slicker? The whole armor of god. That's how Joseph of Egypt made it out. That's why he is the example of the virtue 'chastity'.

So this week, let's try it. Work on ways to keep the experiment upper most in your minds and keeping the armor on. Write me throughout the next few days and tell us your thoughts, suggestions, questions.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Faith, Hope, and Charity

I'm supposed to write about faith today. But as I see it, faith, hope, and charity are so interconnected that you cannot really have one alone and do it right. The minute you have faith, well, hope snuck in somehow and charity is on its way. I read an article once comparing these three virtues to three sisters. Since I have two of my own, this seems pretty accurate. In the best sense.

Are these virtues eternal? Are they virtues of our Heavenly Father? Many would instantly say 'yes' and wonder why I bother asking. But there are others who wonder. They do it by questioning God's love when there are so many bad things happening. Theoretically, you might answer 'agency' or 'tests on earth' etc. I have found, however, that although this provides an answer, it is intellectual only. In other words, it provides knowledge in an intellectual sense, but I have found that it provides very little comfort to someone who is grieving over the death of a loved one or war or abuse or even losing a job. The head gets it. The heart isn't satisfied.

And that is why the three must go together if they are to truly change us into Christlike individuals. You must have trust in the Lord to endure a situation without becoming angry, bitter, or despairing. That trust in the Lord is faith. The trust you have that the Lord won't abandon you and will guide you through is hope. That trust you have that you will therefore not let go of Him or His children, that's charity. The late apostle, Joseph B. Wirthlin, explained it in a better way in his talk "Cultivating Divine Attributes" (found in the Ensign, Nov. 1998).

"As I read and ponder the scriptures, I see that developing faith, hope, and charity within ourselves is a step-by-step process. Faith begets hope, and together they foster charity. We read in Moroni, 'Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.' These three virtues may be sequential initially, but once obtained, they become interdependent. Each one is incomplete without the others. They support and reinforce each other. Moroni explained, 'And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.'”

In Hebrews 11:1, we learn that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The substance of something is what it is made of. Hope grows out of faith, just as Elder Wirthlin explained (sequential initially, but once obtained...). Someone truly wishing to understand God and become like Him must understand in the head and the heart. True faith is based on truth. It is more than belief in something. It is a belief so profound you will do something about it, you will change your life for it.

Knowing that, what do we hope for? What is true. To believe in a world without sorry is false hope because it is not based on truth. Even God wept (see the story of Enoch in the Book of Moses). Christ also felt sorrow (see the story of Lazarus' death). The day may come when we shall put off that veil of tears but for now, we must understand the Plan of the Lord and then accept it. This is what removes anger and bitterness. Understanding the entire overarching plan. It is also what allows us to hope. “And what is it that ye shall hope for?” He gave them this answer: “Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.” (Moroni 7:41)

And once we have this understanding and acceptance, we change. In a much simpler way, remember how you felt when you realized someone hadn't wronged you, but had actually done something really good for you but you didn't know or understand? You remember how you suddenly felt lighter and full of love towards that person? It's the same thing. When you realize that God has a plan for all of us that involves premortal, mortal, and postmortal life, you feel an increase of love for Him and for His children.

So now, we see that God is not wicked or cruel. How do we know He is loving? How do we know that faith, hope, and charity are eternal virtues? Simple. Because He said so and "God is a god of truth and cannot lie." In all holy scripture, the Lord has clearly stated the importance of these three virtues, as have prophets and apostles. Want to know for yourself? Prayerfully read through scriptures and then ask our Heavenly Father. "And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith..." (James 1:5-6.)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Testing..1..2..3..Testing

Well, here we are. Another week. Another chance to VIVO! Are you excited? I have to tell you, I tried the little experiment. And it sort've worked. I had a lot more prompts put into my head. A lot more clear signals about virtue or the lack. I have to confess that I didn't always choose virtue, but the battle isn't over. You have to be aware of the moment first. If you've ever taught or gone door to door for some reason, then you know what I mean. You learn to listen to people, listen for the opening in a conversation. And even when you don't do that job or that service any more, you still know how to listen and look. It's a skill you acquire. Same thing here. Once we learn how to listen to the prompt and look for the opening to ACT, the VIVO prompt will happen more and more. The tricky part is to not ignore VIVO when it is difficult or when you want to be GIGO. And we all have those moments. The moment where you choose to stop being patient and just let someone really 'have it' because 'they deserve it' and you don't want to take the time and energy required to find a better way to resolve the conflict. We've all done it. And if we're really honest, I think we would all admit that our method of handling things didn't handle things very well. It didn't improve the situation. It either created worse feelings and escalated the conflict or it created walls and separation. Neither of which was what you were actually hoping for. There are no easy bail-outs. Easy bail-outs are the lie. Why? Because in all the lists of virtues I read from all over the world not one had anything to do with the easy way out. The general consensus is, it's not a virtue. And it also doesn't work. So what does work? Well, work. ("It's genius in its sheer simplicity.")

"Since 'he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls' (Proverbs 25:28), how could we develop and test our capacity to govern ourselves without the specific opportunities for growth and failure that daily life affords? In fact, is not managing life's little challenges so often the big challenge? Those who wait for a single, spectacular, final exam are apt to fail the daily quizzes!

"We are to strive to become perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. But this is not just generalized goodness; rather, it is the attainment of specific attributes. (Matthew 5:48.)" (We Will Prove Them Herewith, Introduction, Neil A. Maxwell)

This is our proving ground. It's a process designed to develop character and develop it to such an extent that, given the powers of God, we would still demonstrate that character consistently. Can you imagine if God decided to be selfish for a moment? It will never happen, of course, because to have such powers you must be proven absolutely trustworthy of them. But we can all see exactly why that is so essential. Heavenly Father is no Zeus. And it's absolutely essential we aren't either. Elder Maxwell points out that if souls had tree-like growth rings, the widest rings measuring greatest personal growth would reflect the moisture of tears, not rainfall. "Most of our suffering comes from sin and stupidity; it is very real, and nevertheless, growth can still occur with real repentance. But the highest form of suffering appears to be reserved for the innocent who undergo tutorial training." (Id.) Martin Luther King Jr. concurred when he said that 'unearned suffering is redemptive'. No matter what you go through, with God, it can be for our experience, for our good.

Elder Maxwell continues "How many times have frustrating, even grueling experiences from which we have sought releif turned out later to have been part of a necessary preparation that led to much more happiness?...How many times have we impatiently expressed our discontent with seemingly ordinary and routine circumstances that were divinely designed, shaping circumstances for which, later on, we were very grateful?...Thus it is that our faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, so far as this mortal experience is concerned, consists not simply of faith and gladness that He exists, but is also a faith and trust that, if we are humble, He will tutor us, aiding our acquisition of needed attributes and experiences while we are in mortality...Our response to the realities of the plan should not be resignation or shoulder-shrugging fatalism, but reverential acceptance. If at times we wonder, we should know what it is to be filled with wonderment. Why should it surprise us that life's most demanding tests as well as life's most significant opportunities for growth in life usually occur within marriage and the family? How can revolving door relationships, by contrast, be a real test of our capacity to love?...Should it surprise us that in striving to acquire and develop celestial attributes, the greater the interpersonal proximity, the greater the challenge? Is not patience, for instance, best developed among those with whom we interface incessantly? The same is true with any of the other eternal attributes." We must not run away, as he points out, trying to avoid self-confrontation by losing ourselves in other endeavors or lifestyles. We must face ourselves, bravely, daily, and let our own 'rough stone, rolling' become smooth. We must trust. We must have faith.

And therefore, we will examine Matthew 5:48, the perfection of our Father in Heaven, and the virtues we must have to be with Him (and like Him). Now that we can see why faith is so essential and is, in fact, the bedrock upon which to allow the development of all other virtues, we will start there.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Physics of Virtue

Well, that is the question isn't it? How do we keep virtue in our thoughts unceasingly? The secret comes from two simple laws I learned in physics.

An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. There you have it. If you keep those rules in mind, you will realize the truth.

"Let me esplain. No, there is no time. Let me sum up." Why do I say those two rules explain everything? Because they do. Let's think of the object as your mind. Motion is virtue. Rest is vice. Action is your choice of thoughts. The outside force of the first sentence is evil or Satan. The outside force of the second is righteousness or God. So, now let's rewrite those laws of spiritual physics accordingly.

A mind in virtue will stay in virtue unless choosing to think evil. A mind in vice will stay in vice unless choosing to think of righteousness. Get it? It's that easy. No really, it is. We believe that children are born pure and innocent right? Erego, a mind in virtue. Parents are responsible for teaching morals (i.e. that there is righteousness and evil, how to choose between them, and why we must). Once you have virtue in your mind, it will stay there unless you choose otherwise. And that's the trick. It's YOUR choice.

Now, this is not meant to bash on any of us or discourage us or make us feel like less. Just the opposite in fact, it's meant to give us hope. WE have the power. No one else. WE choose. Remember, Richard Lovelace 1618 - 1657? "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an hermitage; If I have freedom in my love, And in my soul am free, Angels alone that soar above Enjoy such liberty." Why is a soul free? Because it isn't bound by sin, by evil, by vice. Those are heavy burdens. Hard to soar when you are weighed down like that.

Again, WE were given a gift: the ability to choose. And someone is always trying to take that away from us by telling us that we not only aren't responsible for our thoughts or life, but can't be. And that means this: you can't change. It means there is no hope. It means that there isn't really anything you can do unless you get lucky. And that's a LIE. Think about it from a historical perspective for a moment. Remember the Holocaust? Remember the concentration camps? Remember how some of the prisoners maintained love and charity and patience throughout? Guess what? Those people chose to do that. Each and every one. (See Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning.) And guess what? That means virtue isn't a commodity owned only by a few. It's like air. Everyone can have it. They just have to let themselves.

So there you are, praying for virtue and then, bam! You get tested (because we are here to prove ourselves and that means we'll be tested) by a really rude person who yells at you, maybe shoves you or spits on you. Now stop. Right there in that second before you react. Take out the reaction. Put in action. You choose. There is always a second before where you make a choice. Remember those in the concentration camp? They chose to share bread. You choose not to yell back. There you are watching tv or laying in bed or driving your car and you see something or someone who is incredibly attractive or a situation that starts to get you thinking down a certain path. Stop right there. Take out the reaction. Put in the action. You choose to turn off the tv, look away, get out of bed, say a prayer and stay on your knees or keep praying until the situation is past. And then you keep your mind that way. Just like GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) so too VIVO (virtue in, virtue out). And, interestingly for those of you who don't speak Spanish. VIVO means "I live." (from vivir: to live) And that's the point. LIVE. Choose to live, to take action, to change your thoughts. And once you have that virtue, it's like a stone rolling down a mountain that just keeps going. Unless you allow vice to insert itself, it won't. And the more you reinsert virtue, the harder it is for vice to get in. There's only so much room in the car people, even if you feel like your mind is a clown car.

When you find yourself in GIGO land, well, remember an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. That outside force is you choosing virtue. So, there you are, already thinking impatiently, jealously, lustily, angrily, etc. or you are taking action gossiping, lying, reading/viewing/thinking pornography. Remember, it's your choice. The problem is that we have someone who is actively telling us that there is no choice, that its reaction time not action time. (Remember, there is no devil, for I am none? LIE.) And then, of course, we tell ourselves another lie. I was tired. It was a bad day. I couldn't help it. That is the exact opposite of the concept of self-reliance or the ability to choose our destiny. You can help it. Even when you are tired, frustrated, unjustly accused.

Hearing that might make us angry or frustrated. And that is an indication of just how much we've come to believe the lie. Because truthfully, it should inspire us. 'Oh, that's right. I have the choice. And I can ask for help. There is always hope. I just have to choose and start. Go and do.'

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." He suffered all temptation. He descended below all things. Never once did he falter. Never once did he choose vice. Why? Because He never forgot the truth. He never listened to the lies. He cast such from Him and so can we. Remember the truth. Remember who you are. Remember the gift you were given. Make the choice. For the next few days, let's consciously work at remembering the laws of virtue and see if that makes it easier to live with virtue in your thoughts and keep them there.

VIVO.

Friday, February 5, 2010

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.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

And the Survey Says...

Well all, I must apologize for not writing back immediately. All good things must come to an end, including computers sometimes. But, we are back and ready to move forward with another post. I got some questions from bloggers regarding the definition of virtue and virtuous thoughts. One of the most important things you can do in any experiment is to define terms. And since this was exactly where I planned to go next...let's take a walk down the garden together.

Virtue. It seems like it would be easily definable. But I have been surprised at just how many variations there are to it and how many countries define different things as virtuous or not. Today, we will explore those. Some consider virtue to mean 'a good quality, a quality that is morally good'. Another definition is 'admirable quality, a quality that is good or admirable but not necessarily in moral terms' (see Encarta World English Dictionary). Yet another dictionary (Dictionary.com) defines it as 'moral excellence, goodness, righteousness, conformity of one's life to moral and ethical principles, uprightness, rectitude.' And, of course, going back to the root of the word, Latin, tells us virtue means 'moral excellence'. The Catholic Dictionary referenced the Latin but stated that virtue signifies manliness or courage. In the Bible's Guide to the Scriptures, virtue is defined as 'integrity and moral excellence, power and strength.' Wikipedia defines virtue as moral excellence but then goes on to state "a virtue is a character trait or quality valued as being always good in and of itself. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual and collective well being. The opposite of virtue is vice."

Now this brings me to a critical point. Because so many define virtue in so many different ways, they then have many different lists of what is or is not a virtue. In the past, I did it too. Whenever I read something about 'virtue' I mentally made it synonymous with 'chastity'. And that is not correct. Although chastity is a virtue, it is not the definition of virtue. Not only did this limit my understanding of virtue and how to gain it and maintain it, it also limited my understanding of scripture.

So which to use? I have decided to go with the final definition listed above for a couple of different reasons. One of which is Hebrew. In Hebrew virtue is 'middot' and for Judaism, the virtuous person (ba'al middot) imitates the virtue of God.
(See The Book of Virtues). To me, therefore, virtue cannot simply mean 'an admirable quality, but not necessarily in moral terms'. It cannot simply mean 'conformity of one's life to moral and ethical principles' if the one defining moral and ethical principles is man. For example, Western culture traditionally listed four cardinal virtues 'temperence, prudence, fortitude, and justice' (see Wikipedia, 'virtue'), while Romans had a list that included things such as frugality, dutifulness, wholesomeness, tenacity, and fifteen others. Wikipedia states that in Christianity, the three virtues are faith, hope, and charity, and the fruits of the Spirit, as listed by Paul. Muslim virtues are prayer, repentance, honesty, loyalty, sincerity, frugality, prudence, moderation, self-restraint, discipline, perseverance, patience, hope, dignity, courage, justice, tolerance, wisdom, good speech, respect, purity, courtesy, kindness, gratitude, generosity, contentment, and others (again, see Wikipedia). For Buddhists, virtue would correspond with the 8 fold path, yet Chinese philosophy shows that the concept of virtue changed over time. Even modern psychology has a list of virtues. It's like reading a survey list. 'Well, 8 people said...but 52 said...so we'll define it as...." This doesn't work for me.

If truth is eternal, and I believe that it is, then virtue shouldn't change by time or place or culture. Since I believe that there is a God and that He does reveal His word to us (for the express purpose of helping us understand how to align our will with His and purify ourselves to return to Him) I will go through all scripture and make a list of things the Lord considers virtues (just not in this blog). Then, using that as our definition, review scriptures that use the term 'virtue' to understand the end effect of virtue. However, as we have to start somewhere quickly, and as we will go through scriptures throughout the following weeks, for the purpose of this experiment, let us now use the definition given to us by the Bible's guide, 'integrity and moral excellence, power and strength.'

Next, we will explore the scripture found in 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." We will also look at Philippians 4:8 " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."