Land Investment

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; 

but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 

- Galatians 6:7-8

As I was searching for a verse  to put up on the fridge for our regular weekend scripture we ponder as a family, I followed a few footnotes and was intrigued by these phrases found in Galatians.

"For he that soweth to his flesh"

or

"He that soweth to the Spirit"

What does it mean to sow to our own flesh or sow to the Spirit? It means that in our daily, moment by moment choices, whether we realize it or not... we are making regular deposits into one account or the other, into the land of "the flesh" or the land of "the Spirit"... And...In the end, we will reap what we have sown. 

Which land are we drawn to most for our investments?

"Our own flesh" = choices motivated to promote ourselves, save our own face, self-centered thoughts and behavior and no self-control, prideful, vain, boastful, jealous envious, gossipy, concerned more with image than integrity, greed, and so on.

"To the Spirit" = choices motivated to sincerely care for and help others (especially family), a land beyond our self, a land of spiritual matters, a land of strong and personal testimony, a land focused on the things that matter most where moth nor rust can corrupt, a land invested in things you can't buy in this world: loving trust-based relationships, an honorable and inspiring life, not self-promoting but God-promoting; one who is dedicated to spending all their gifts God has given them (time, talents, strengths) to bringing souls to Christ - to bear one another's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.   

Today's Great Need for Personal Integrity

We just finished reading in our family scripture study about King Benjamin and King Mosiah. The greatest impression I felt from their story was how they were men of integrity, they didn't "pretend" to be great leaders (only good to some and rotten to others). They didn't place themselves on a higher plane or abase those lower in rank. They practiced humility, kindness, hard work, and honesty in all of their dealings; in their employment, at home, and at Church.

Oh, how we need these reminders in today's self-centered and self-seeking world! We need people with true and honest hearts, righteous people who are good in every circumstance, true to morals and principles, who don't hide behind position, prosperity, or power ... especially as members of the Church! Where is our heart set?

Reflecting on this caused me to search for a good talk about integrity. I found some great thoughts by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin from General Conference April 1990. 

"A little lying, a little cheating, or taking a little unfair advantage are not acceptable to the Lord.... The world desperately needs men and women of integrity. Nearly every day we hear of fraud, misapplication of funds, false advertising, or other dealings designed to obtain gain by cheating or deception. The Lord abhors such practices.

The Lord commanded the Israelites to be more than honest. If they came upon a lost ox, they were to search out the owner so they could return the animal. Today, our intentions and dealings must be similarly pure and sound before the Lord. We must be fair with suppliers, customers, and employees; repay obligations and keep agreements; and never deceive by failing to disclose all the facts about an investment or business venture. If our selfish 'hearts are set so much upon the things of this world' (D&C 121:35), we can easily lose our integrity. We must remember that 'we believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.' (A of F 1:13.)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated, 'Oh, how we wish for more honesty and less corruption, more goodness instead of so much cleverness, and more wisdom in lieu of unanchored brilliance.'"

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (Personal Integrity, April 1990)

If Tomorrow Never Comes

I like a lot of different styles of music... and yes, even some Country. There's a song by Garth Brooks where some of the lyrics are as follows.

"If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face this world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel"

After losing my mom, I've had regrets that I didn't call her enough or visit her enough. We'd have my parents down for dinner once a month and I'd call maybe twice a month. At the time, I didn't feel our visits were too infrequent for them living 45 minutes away. The very last day I hugged my mom was on Valentine's day, at my sister's work. I had spoken with her over the phone on the 4th of March to plan her birthday party but the conversation was brief. She left this life so unexpectedly.

I've made more efforts now to call and visit my dad. I've made it a point to visit with him and call him about twice each week. It's unfortunate it took this tragedy to pull me out of my busy world and be more thoughtful about my parents. I don't want to live with those same kinds of regrets I've had about mom when my dad passes away.  I've also made more effort to create family time with my children, more family dinners, more outings, more alone time with Joseph. What if tomorrow never comes with them?

I might be a little hard on myself for not spending more time with my mom. Knowing her though, I'm sure she forgives me and she wouldn't have felt at all that I didn't spend enough time with her. She was very understanding about my busy life. She often put me on a pedestal I never deserved. I wish she could have seen how good she was. She didn't have an ounce of arrogance in her.  Never in her life did she seek/desire any kind of recognition, any kind of popularity or praise. That just wasn't her focus - She was genuine through and through. She sincerely, deeply cared about people.

She did so much good for others. I was humbled to hear countless stories from her neighbors at the viewing of thoughtful little things she would do for them. One of her sisters she visit and taught told me that the very same day my mom was rushed to the hospital, my mom had called her to see how she was doing. My mom was the one who wasn't feeling well and yet she was calling this sister of hers to check how she was doing. Another story I found out from my mom's next-door neighbor - My mom was a primary teacher for the 7 to 8 yr old's. She would personally invite any child who didn't make it to Church on Sunday to come to her house and have a personalized one-on-one lesson with them. I loved hearing how the people of her ward thought of her. If she had only known what an impression she left! They all described her as pure like a child and without guile.

This morning, half-way between the state of waking and dreaming, I felt like she was standing over me, smiling at me. Her presence caused my whole being to feel a spiritual rush and tingling with pure joy. My joy soon turned to grief, I took her hands in mine and cried, "Mom, I miss you. I'm sorry I didn't call you more. I knew that one day I would lose you but I didn't think it would be this soon. I didn't know it would be this hard!" She continued to smile lovingly at me as if to say, "It's alright. Everything is alright."

I've had a few of those experiences since her passing... and even though they are just dreams, I know her spirit is by my side, she forgives me, she loves me, and she walks with me as one of my angels now. I hope you know, Mom, just how very much you mean to me!
-Alicia