Blog

March 1985

Principle of radical utility: Usefulness shapes and controls the nature of every language in every aspect.

Language is a technology, by far the most important technology known to man. As with all technology, it is thus an instrument of power, enabling men better to fulfill their desires. The three principal human uses of language are: 1) to share with others; 2) to control others; and 3) to fill up time (phatic use of language).

Language: A set of phonetic, (graphic), (physical), morphemic, syntactic and discourse patterns which are conventions of a given culture used socially to facilitate the fulfillment of desire by the participants in the culture.

Parameters necessary to a language:

1.   A community of persons who have a common desire and therefore a need or opportunity to cooperate.

2.   A common physical context (to provide primitive definitions by ostensive means).

3.   A culture: a common set of values, beliefs about the universe, and appropriate actions (to delimit communication).

4.   A set of signals. (Phonemes, letters, gestures, etc.)

5.   A defining procedure. A means of associating signals with elements of the physical context to provide potential meanings for those signals.

6.   A lexicon. A set of defined signals (typical words associated with typical meanings).

7.   A syntax. A set of typical patterns of word and sentence formation used to control meaning.

8.   A rhetoric. A set of typical patterns of sentence concatenation used to form conversations and speeches in order to control communication.

Natural language: Any language currently learned by any population as a mother tongue.

Artificial language: Any language specially constructed to meet the needs of an artificially contrived group of persons. All dead languages are artificial languages.

Meaning: The message components which are the basis of sending and receiving of communication. Words have only potential meaning. Only messages have meaning. All messages have expectation as to what will happen next.

Grammar: The rules for producing typical patterns of syntax in sentences in language use.

Rhetoric: The patterns of sentence usage which characterize typical and expert use of language in actual discourse.

Other principles of language:

1.   Principle of indeterminacy: There are no correct or incorrect semantic usages, syntactic structures or discourse patterns. Language may come to be used in any way at any time by any person. There are no formal constraints as to what might be effective use of language.

2.   Principle of nominalism: Meaning does not inhere in any symbol. Dictionaries give typical potential meanings of a word, not actual meanings. Actual meanings exist only in the minds of speakers and hearers in actual contextual use of words. (Words used have meaning; words mentioned do not.)

3.   Principle of typicality: For a given language and a given time/place/culture there is a pattern of typical phonetic, semantic, syntactic and discourse usage, the mastery of which makes one a full-fledged member of that language community. Typicality maximizes the utility of language for ordinary purposes.

4.   Principle of atypicality: Mastery of the typical patterns of a language makes it possible to employ language atypically with great power. In every society there is a reservoir of unfulfilled desire. An individual who says new things in a new ways to channel (or harness) that unfulfilled desire assumes a leadership role. The atypical usage must be very close to typicality (thus the leader must have mastered typical usage) but enough different that hearers generate new hope for the fulfillment of unfulfilled desire. Atypicality includes creativity in science, art, literature, politics, etc. Too great an atypicality causes incredulity in hearers. Atypicality which increases one’s social influence is expert use of a language.

5.   Principle of parsimony: When language is used for sharing or control, efficiency is important. Thus these uses of language tend to represent a minimum use of energy (words and structures) to accomplish the desire of the speaker. In the phatic use of language inefficiency is important and thus parsimony does not here obtain.

6.   Principle of ellipsis: No speaker does or can express all that he means in any finite discourse. The meaning of any utterance is ultimately the total universe of the speaker.

7.   Principle of entropy: There is always a loss of information in the process of sending a message. The receiver cannot reconstruct all that the sender intends.

8.   The principle of integrality: Every assertion and discourse has three essential parts: A feeling component, and informational component, and an action component. These three factors are always present for both speaker and hearer. In some situations the feeling and action components tend to be repressed, but they are nevertheless present. This integrality of language usage arises out of the integrality of the human being. Every conscious human being is at any given moment feeling something, thinking something, and doing something. The purpose of language use is to affect that integrality in others.

9.   The principle of attraction: The community using a given language grows (in relation to rival languages) in proportion to the relatively greater utility of that language.

10. The principle of generality: The more widespread and the greater the number of language experiences a population has in common, the more widespread will be the patterns of atypicality.

11. The principle of diversity: The more a sub-population desires to separate itself from a community, the more non-typical become its language patterns. Non-typical patterns are used when there is a need to:

• a.   Discourse in a specialized way about recondite matters (jargon).
• b.   Prevent the general population from understanding or penetrating an “in” group (dialect).

12. The principle of admittance: The entre into any social group is to master the typical language patterns of that group.

13. The principle of accession: The key by which to acquire the total culture of any group is to master its typical language patterns.

14. The principle of stability: Typicality in a language is strengthened by faithful usage and by expert use of atypicality.

15. The principle of metamorphosis: Non-typical use is the engine of change in language. All natural languages drift.

Factors which work for the metamorphosis of typicality in a language:

• 1.   New environmental experiences.
• 2.   Desire for exclusivity.
• 3.   Desire for novelty.
• 4.   Influential persons who speak non-typically.
• 5.   Social interaction with other cultures.
• 6.   Preponderance of spoken over written use of the language.

Factors which work for the stability of typicality in a language:

• 1.   Constant physical environment.
• 2.   Desire for inclusivity.
• 3.   Appreciation for ancestors/conventions/traditions.
• 4.   Influential persons who speak typically or atypically.
• 5.   A written literature which is highly honored and widely read.

Signals (codings) used by a language vary on a scale from totally referential to very presentational.

Referential coding maximizes efficiency in communication. Representational coding maximizes efficacy in communication.

Naming (coding) in a language may be random or rational.

Rational coding:

• 1.   May assign related names to related referents.
• 2.   May assign names based on descriptions from a foreign lexicon.

Random coding occurs by historical accident.

Defining: The process of:

• 1.   Pairing a given word or phrase with successive potential meanings as does a dictionary.
• 2.   Pairing a given word or phrase with another indicator of the precise class or concept which a user has intended when the original use has failed. Only the user can define the meaning.

There are four standard means of defining:

• 1.   Ostension: Pointing to a representation of the meaning in the physical environment.
• 2.   Synonomy: Using another word or phrase having the same meaning.
• 3.   Denotation: A verbal pointing to a referent which represents the meaning intended.
• 4.   Connotation: Using a genus (the larger class to which a class belongs) and a differentia (those properties which individuate the thing being defined from other members of the genus).

Linguistic production: The creation and delivery of discourse by a self and its body.

Levels of linguistic production:

1.   Basic level: The arena of the imagination surrounded by the imagined universe of the self. Within that arena, certain alternatives have come to the attention of the self which it does not presently enjoy, such as an idea it desires to entertain, a sensation it desires to have the body deliver, etc. Using the basic desires of the self, the volition (will) of the self chooses a particular potential to seek to make real. (A particular desire becomes the focus of the attention of the self.)         

2.   Strategy level: Still in the arena of the imagination, the self creates an intent and a plan to fulfill the desire; this intent is:

• a.   A feeling (a strength of desire) and a goal.
• b.   An action hypothesis (a proposal to affect the universe in order to get it to fulfill the desire).
• c.   An image of what the expected result would be if that plan for affecting the universe were implemented.

3.   Tactics level: Still in the arena of the imagination, the self creates a specific assertion (to implement the action proposal of 2b above) which it proposes to launch into the universe to fulfill its intent (desire) and which it believes will actually produce the desired result. Several hypotheses may be considered, the one deemed most useful in the value parameters of the self being the one selected.

4.   Logistics level: Using speech habits already established, the self encodes sentence(s) and plans a discourse to implement the assertion(s) selected at the previous level.

5.   Implementation level: Using body habits already established, the self enphones the sentence(s) encoded at the previous level.

6.   Anticipation stage: The self alerts itself to notice, through sensation, what reaction the universe has to the action it has launched.

Levels of linguistic interpretation (the complement of production):

1.   Detection of a signal or signal complex from a source deemed to be an agent; delivered to the self in sensation.

2.   Recognition of the signal pattern; identification of the words, phrases, sentences.

3.   Creation of a hypothesis of sentence interpretation, a hypothetical assertion attributed to the speaker.

4.   Creation of a message hypothesis concerning what the speaker is doing

• a.   A hypothetical intention for the speaker.
• b.   A hypothetical action being performed by the speaker.
• c.   A hypothesis as to what is expected next, either in the context or of the interpreting self.

5.   An understanding of how the speaker’s action and intentions relate to the universe, including what options that creates for the hearer.

6.   A reaction of pleasure or displeasure at what the speaker has done.

March 1985

1. Definition: Communication: The effect or relationship one being has on or with another.

Kinds:

• Static:  One thing contiguous with another.
• Dynamic: One thing affecting (making changes) in another being.

Static communication is always reciprocal. Dynamic communication may or may not be reciprocal.

Intentional communication=agentive communication.

2. Definition:  Human communication: One human being affecting the body of another human being.

Kinds of active human communication:

• Visual affect
• Auditory affect
• Substance affect
•        Taste
•        Smell
•        Chemical
•        Solid object
•        Addition or deprivation of heat
• Kinetic communication (hitting, pushing, etc.)

Prominent myth about human communication: Human communication is the exchange of ideas.

This is a myth because we humans can only directly affect another person’s body, not their mind.

3. Spiritual communication: One being affecting another being by non-physical means.

Principal kinds:

• Good: Radiating the good spirit, thus influencing other beings to do godly (righteous) things.
• Evil: Radiating the evil spirit, thus influencing other beings to do evil (selfish) things.

Postulate: Human beings are always spiritual beings and always under the influence of at least one other spirit, either the spirit of God or the spirit of Satan. Each human being radiates to others either a good or an evil spiritual influence.

4. Communication between human beings is always a combination of human communication and spiritual communication. (The effect of spiritual communication gives rise to the myth of transfer of ideas.)

5. Agent communication always has specific parts:

•       a1. Sender intention: what the sender desires to accomplish.
•       b1. Sender main idea: the mental image which prompts the sender’s action.
•       c1. Sender assertion: the physical action launched by the sender to affect the target of communication.
•       d1. Sender affect: the net result of what the sender accomplished in asserting.

•       a2. Receiver intention: what the receiver desires to achieve as a response to what the receiver believes the sender intends.
•       b2. Receiver main idea: what the receiver thinks as a result of what the receiver thinks the sender had as a main idea.
•       c2. Receiver assessment: the urgency or importance or strength which the receiver places on the communication from the sender in light of what the receiver knows and imagines.
•       d2. Receiver affect: the specific response of the receiver to the sender’s communication.

6. Postulates of communication:

• a.   To exist is to communicate. Not to affect anything nor to be affected by anything is not to exist. All real beings communicate with something other than themselves.
• b.   How a being communicates defines its being, since anything exists only in communicating.
• c.   In a given situation, one being may not act, but only be acted upon by another. But to be a being, it must be potentially able to act. If it is never able to act for itself, it is not a separate being but only a part of the being which acts upon it.
• d.   The effects of communication upon agents are effects only of accident. Ordinary human communication never does or can change a hearer-agent’s essence.
• e.   An agent being has two potentials, one good, the other evil. The choices and actions (the communications) of the agent fix upon that agent one of the two potentials. Thus the agent partly creates himself or herself.
• f.    Salvation is communication from the Savior to an agent who has consistently chosen good over evil, inasmuch as he or she was able to do so, to make the person wholly good (holy).
• g.   Communication is always an entropic process. More is sent than is ever received.

7. Total Communication: takes place when two beings interact so completely that they become as one being.

8. Ways to achieve total communication:

• a.   Communicated in every way.
• b.   Communicate about everything.
• c.   Communicate in every environment.
• d.   Be redundant.
• e.   Communicate only good (unselfishness).

Exercises for communication

1.   Why is no human communication intelligible? Because it acts only on the body of the recipient.

2.   When is there too much communication? In a physical fight.

3.   When is there too little communication? When someone needs help, and none is given.

4.   What is the connection between communication and reality? Reality is what is communicated.

5.   What is the connection between communication and morality? All communication either helps or hinders the recipient.

6.   What are examples of total communication? God exalting one of his children.

7.   How does one communicate love? One being blesses another, leaving them better off afterward.

8.   Devise a strategy for communicating to any other person your concept of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be an example of living by faith in Jesus Christ.

CCR March 1985 Theory 12

(Note: This theory is constructed from the perspective of an omniscient observer. Since the author is not an omniscient observer, it represents his hypothesis as to what an omniscient observer would say about the following subjects.)

Self: A normal conscious human being considered as semi-attached to his/her body, and to some degree an independent agent.

Body: A personal material intermediary between a self and its universe.

Universe: Everything a self believes to exist outside its body.

Only three kinds of things exist for the self: 1) One’s self, 2) One’s body, and 3) One’s “other”: the universe. This is the egocentric predicament.

The basic functions of a self are volition, feeling, thinking and acting.

• Volition is the choices of the self for feeling, thinking and acting.
• Feeling is value placed on ideas, which value 1) stimulates thinking, and 2) generates emotions in the body. Feeling and emotion increase the power of the self to act.
• Thinking is the creation and ordering of ideas.
• Acting is deporting the body relative to the universe.

A self is a will, a volition. Aspects of a well-furnished self:

1. A set of desires. Used for:
         Preferring: Selection among alternative concepts in the realm of the ideal (“other things being equal”).
         Choosing: Selection among percepts or alternatives believed by the self to represent real alternatives believed by the self to represent real alternatives of the universe.
         Feeling: Value intensity attached to preferences or choices accompanied by emotions in the body.
2. An imagination: an arena for creation and processing of concepts, percepts, constructs, and assertions including a construct of the universe (the latter being a taxonomized [chunked, with each category named] construct constructed by the self which is believed to be a good representation of the real truth about the universe. This image is created and is continuously repaired and amended in accordance with the preferences and choices of the self as the self interacts with the universe through its body).
3. A logic processor. Concepts are related in whatever systems of order the self has mastered and finds expedient to use.
4. A language processor in which assertions are encoded and signals are decoded using whatever systems of code which the self has mastered.
5. An action processor in which choices are made for deporting the body of the self, these choices then being triggered into motion.
6. A memory bank in which are stored:
   • Beliefs about the true universe (past, present and future).
   • Hypotheses under consideration and on the shelf.
   • All concepts ever created by the self.
   • All assertions ever created by the self.
   • A lexicon of codes.
   • A repertoire of systems of order.
7. Sets of habits of the self created by consistent patterns of choice for:
   • Preferring, choosing and feeling.
   • Thinking, including imagining, believing/disbelieving, memorizing, forgetting, etc.
   • Patterns of acting (deporting one’s body to relate to the universe to fulfill the desires of the self).

Thinking: Creating and processing ideas in the self.

Processes of thinking:

1. Sensing: Receiving ideas from one’s body. Product: Sensation
2. Conceiving: Creating and acting upon ideas in the imagination. Product: Concept.
3. Perceiving: Interpretation of sensation by pairing a sensation with a similar concept. Product: Percept.
4. Desiring: Placing a value on an idea by pairing it with a concept member of a value continuum. Product: Desideratum.
5. Constructing: Creating possible selves, bodies or universes by concatenating concepts (repeated pairing). Product: Construct.
6. Asserting: Creating hypotheses about self, body or the universe by pairing concepts in a relationship of prediction. Product: Assertion.
7. Believing: Pairing a construct or assertion with a concept on a real-unreal continuum.

Principal constructs created by the self:

1. The self. (Structure and functions)
2. The body. (Structure and functions)
3. The universe. (The present structure and functions)
   God
   Other selves.
   The past.
   The present.

Basic capacities and concepts of the self:

Root capacities:

1. Ability to abstract patterns from ideas.
2. Ability to differentiate similar patterns from dissimilar patterns.
3. Ability to distinguish contiguous patterns from non-contiguous patterns.
4. Short-term memory (seven items or less).
5. Long-term memory.

Concept Development: (“®“ = “yields”):

1. Cognition of a pattern. (Stored in short-term memory.)
2. Repeated recognition of pattern ® an essence, type, class, substance (stored in long-term memory.)
3. Dissimilarity of recognized pattern ® an accident (a quality).
4. Recognition of patterns of accidents ® qualities
5. An essence + context ® (dissimilar background) ® existence
6. Essence 1 + Essence 1 + common context ® number (quantity established on the basis of contiguity/noncontiguity).
7. Number + Number ® patterned relations of numbers
8. Patterned relations of numbers + imagination ® arithmetic, other systems of order, including different concepts of space (established on basis of contiguity/noncontiguity).
9. Essences + space ® structure (a type of essence).
10. ( [Essence 1 + context 1) + (Essence 1 + context 2]) ® (possibility of) change (time). (Other changes also contribute.)
11. (Structure 1 + space 1 + time 1) + (Structure 1 + space 2 + time 2) ® function 1 (locomotion).
12. (Structure 1 + space 1 + time 1) + (Structure 2 + space 1 + time 2) ® function 2 (metaphysics).
13. (Structure 1 + accident 1 + time 1) + Structure 1 + accident 2 + time 2) ® function 3 (action).
14. ((Structure 1 + function (1v2v3)) ® (Change of function (1v2v3) of structure 2) in a recognized pattern ® cause

Summary: Basic kinds of concepts:

1. Patterns established on basis of similarity/dissimilarity and contiguity/non-contiguity
2. Essences (substances, classes, types)
3. Accidents (qualities)
4. Structures
5. Functions
6. Relationships
7. Spaces
8. Times
9. Causes

Concepts are classes used in the imagination of the self.

True: That property possessed by a construct or assertion wherein it is held by its creator self to represent correctly the universe created by the self. May or may not be based on evidence.

Really true: That property possessed by a construct or assertion wherein it represents correctly the universe as seen by the omniscient observer.

Individuation: Determination of the uniqueness of an idea.

• A concept is individuated when it represents a single, unique property or when it represents the unique intersection of a set of properties (is dissimilar to all other essences or concept patterns).
• A percept is individuated when it is clearly differentiated from its perceptual context by figure/ground comparison.
• A construct is individuated by the uniqueness of its attributed structure and function.
• An assertion is individuated by the unique intersection of ideas created by the predicated pairing.

Existence: That property of a concept, percept, or construction wherein it is deemed by its creator to have been successfully individuated in the creator’s mind. To be thought is to exist.

Really existing: That property of a concept, percept or construct wherein its nature as individuated by its creator is seen by the omniscient observer to be correctly and sufficiently individuated.

Real: That property of concepts, percepts or constructs wherein its imagined referents in the universe are believed by the creator of those concepts, percepts or constructs actually to be instantiated in the real universe.

Really real: That property of concepts, percepts or constructs wherein its imagined referents are real to the omniscient observer.

Assertions are of three types, each with several subtypes:

1. Disclosure: The characterization of self.

• • Exclamations: Wow!
  • Valuations: That is a good lad.
  • Preferences: Quiche is the greatest.
  • Choices: I’ll have the sirloin.
  • Plans: I’m getting up at five in the morning.
  • Intentions: Someday I’ll get around to doing genealogy.

2. Directive: Attempting to control the actions of others.

• • Commands: Stop!
  • Questions: What time is it?
  • Definitions: Escargot means snail.
  • Maxims: A stitch in time saves nine.
  • Art forms: Devices to attract and hold the attention.

3. Description: Portrayal of the nature of the body or of the universe. (For the intent of constraining the beliefs of other selves.)

• • Fact: Identification of a present phenomenon (percept). This is an albatross.
  • Law: An inductive generalization about a body of perceived or reported facts. Albatrosses lay eggs.
  • Theory: The creation or non-perceptual constructs as mechanisms to explain and deduce the laws and facts of an area of inquiry. Albatrosses lay eggs because they are descendants of reptiles. (Naturalistic theory construction.)
• Principle: The adduction of fundamental postulates to guide theory construction in an area of inquiry. All life forms are differentiated descendants of simple life forms. (Naturalistic principle adduction. The desires of the self control which theories are constructed and which principles are adduced. Theistic or other principles and theories could be used to accomplish the same logical ends.)

Structure of assertions

All assertions consist of:

1. A single class (concept or construct) which is the subject class: Adult geese.
2. Another single class (concept or construct) to serve as predicate, with which the subject is paired: Creatures which mate for life.
3. A specified relationship of predication asserted to hold between the two classes. The parameters of predication are:

• Specification of a class relation: inclusion, exclusion, coextension.
• Specification of which members of the subject class are asserted to have said class relation to the predicate: all, none, some, three, etc.: All who can find a mate.
• Specification of the time frame during which the said predication is asserted to hold: Beginning when geese came to be real, ending when geese cease to be real.
• Specification of the area or volume of space in which the said predication is asserted to hold: The planet Earth.

Finished example: Since geese came to exist on the earth and until they cease to exist, all adult geese which can find mates, mate for life.

Note on assertions: The sentence above is not an assertion because assertions exist only in the self and are ideas only. A well-formed assertion is the most careful, exact and defensible idea that a given person can form. An assertion is of value as it aids the self in thinking or as it helps the self to accomplish a specific objective when that assertion is encoded and launched into the universe.

January 1985

1.   Human beings have two parts or aspects:

• a.   Outer: The physical body, which deals with earth and nature, other humans, human artifacts.
• b.   Inner: Thoughts, feelings and desires; the good, the holy, the beautiful; the bad, the evil, the ugly.

Import: Each realm is very important: to neglect either is to fail as a human being.

2.   There are two kinds of human knowledge (belief) which correspond to the two aspects of man.

3.   When one has proved to be a responsible person and thinker in the everyday world, one is better prepared to make judgments in relation to the truth or falsity of religious hypotheses.

Problem: Are the Restored Gospel, Church and Priesthood of Jesus Christ true? Does the holy in my life assure me of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel, and does the Holy Spirit guide and comfort me as I attempt to live it?

4.   I can gather two kinds of knowledge to test that possibility. Examples:

• Import: Public knowledge can never force one to believe the Restored Gospel. Example: Laman and Lemuel.
• Since the Restored Gospel is essentially about inner things, only inner knowledge can establish its truthfulness.
• Import: Inner knowledge comes only as I experiment with inner things. I experiment only as I desire to do so. Therefore I gain the evidence that makes a testimony possible only as I desire to do so.

5.   Question: Can I talk myself into a testimony? Answer: Can I talk myself into believing I have eaten when I have not? As I can test and prove things in physical knowledge, I can test and prove things in inner knowledge if I am willing to perform the necessary test and to make careful accounting of the results.

6.   Physical, public evidence can greatly strengthen inner, personal knowledge of the truth of the Restored Gospel. Inner, personal knowledge can be likened to the warp of woven cloth. Public knowledge becomes the woof which when tightly woven into a strong warp, adds strength and substance to a testimony.

7.   Qualities of testimony: Strong: Base for great faith and sacrifice. Weak: Cannot stand opposition. Sure: Sufficient evidence to surmount reasonable doubt: Daily contact with the enlarging and beneficent power of the Holy Spirit (Alma’s test). Unsure: Not enough experiments performed (faith) to be sure of the dependability of God. Present: Cooperation with the Holy Spirit today. Past: Memory of sure cooperation with the Holy Spirit, but no present cooperation.

8.   Summary and Conclusions:

• a.   The essence of testimony is present, inner experience with the Holy Spirit. Public, physical knowledge about the Restored Gospel is helpful but only when tightly woven into daily cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
• b.   Inner experience, evidence, comes only through faith (after initial witness of the Holy Spirit). Doing!
• c.   If a person hungers and thirsts after righteousness, he or she will perform the inner experiments necessary to gain a sure testimony of the Restored Gospel. Lacking that desire, no one can gain sure and lasting evidence.
• d.   A testimony is always an inner, personal, non-transferable thing, a selected summary of the inner experiments of the person. Witness may be born, but the evidence cannot be transferred.
• e.   Any person who has a sure testimony of the workings of the Holy Spirit through the laws and ordinances of the Restored Gospel can also endure to a sure knowledge of the Son and of the Father, if he or she so desires in faith.

December 1984

The following principles are important in learning to interpret the scriptures of the Restored Gospel.

1. The fullness of the scriptures is the key to knowledge.

The scriptures do not bring knowledge of themselves, for they are only sets of inkblots on paper. But as those inkblots are examined prayerfully in the name of the Savior, that study becomes an occasion for revelation from the Father through the Holy Ghost. Those revelations are the word of God, which is His law. Willing, heartfelt obedience to that law is faith in Jesus Christ. As a person lives by that faith, a person gains knowledge of the being and ways of God. The fulness of the scriptures provides all a person needs to ponder to get enough revelation to begin the process of knowing God. Thus the fulness of the scriptures is the key to knowledge. (Luke 11:53, JST Version)

2. There is a parallelism between things physical and things spiritual. All things physical have a spiritual counterpart.

Whenever the scriptures tell a story or mention a physical object, whatever is being discussed physically has a spiritual counterpart which should be sought. For instance, the ark which Noah built to save the animals and righteous souls from the great flood is a representation of the new and everlasting covenant of God which will save every righteous soul from the flood of evil which is called in the scriptures “the world”. Every so-called temporal commandment has a spiritual counterpart and purpose. For instance, the word of wisdom as given in D&C 89 is a representation of the wisdom of God which will save every person spiritually, even as the temporal commandments help a person physically. (D&C 29)

3. It is the spiritual side of existence which governs and drives the physical side, not vice versa.

It is sometimes tempting to think that physical things govern themselves, that the physical universe is a great clock which just ticks on with all of its gears meshing. A fundamental contrary truth of the scriptures is that everything physical is governed by the spiritual order of existence. For instance, it is natural to assume when a storm comes that it is simply the natural play of atmospheric physics at work. While indeed there are aspects of atmospheric physics at work, all is governed and controlled by the hand of God. Thus there never was a storm which did not accomplish exactly that which God wanted it to perform and commanded it to perform. To please God, we must recognize His hand in all things. (D&C 59)

4. We should liken the scriptures unto ourselves.

The real fruit of all scripture is to help each individual to receive and to be faithful to the present revelations of God as they are received by that person at a given moment. The value of reading the scriptures is, then, to inquire of the Lord constantly as to how what we are reading applies to our present situation and predicaments. Knowing the scriptures does not of itself save us in any way. But making application of the scriptures to our daily lives in this manner is the very thing which will save us if we are faithful unto those revelations. (1 Nephi 19:43)

This principle is a species of a more general principle which would have us liken all things unto ourselves. Whenever we see anyone speaking or acting, we should ask ourselves what we would and should do as covenant servants of the Savior in that situation. Whenever we see a problem to be solved, we should ask how that problem could best be solved in the Savior’s way. Since the formation of a Christlike character is our most important and most precious accomplishment in this world, and since that character is formed basically by making correct decisions, likening all things to ourselves and making Christlike decisions in all things greatly increases the density of our character forming decisions in daily life. Thus likening all things to ourselves hastens the process of taking upon ourselves the divine nature and prepares us for making correct decisions when those decisions are our own stewardship reality.

The scriptures are especially helpful in the process of likening all things to ourselves because there we see in addition to the usual worldly mistakes of men the godly acts of good men. To be constantly in the presence of holy persons would be a great advantage in learning to make correct decisions in this life. While most of us may not actually live daily with a prophet of God, we can live in our imagination with the prophets of the scriptures and burn into our souls the values, beliefs and action patterns of those godly men.

6 November 1984

Let us imagine together the following scenario:

1.   The focus of priesthood activity in the LDS Church is doing, not just knowing: acting, not speaking.

2.   Persons holding the Melchizedek Priesthood participate in quorum meetings according to their activities:

• a.   Some focus on perfecting the saints (home teaching). This effort to strengthen every member of the Church and to establish Zion would replace what is now called the Elder’s Quorum meeting. Instead of having a doctrinal lesson each week, emphasis would be placed on learning how to do superb home teaching. Practice sessions on various skills would be appropriate. This group’s part in ward social and welfare activities would be planned, and previous performance would be reviewed. Care and nurturing of junior (Aaronic Priesthood) companions in home teaching would be stressed. High Priests, Seventy, and Elders whose calling and interest is in this labor attend and participate in this weekly priesthood session.
• b.   Others focus on teaching the Restored Gospel to non-members (missionary work) as the weekly meeting of the Seventies group in each ward. The meeting activity is preparing prospective full-time and part-time missionaries, organizing proselyting activities in the ward and stake. It may include studying the language, customs and beliefs of some far people of the world (as preparation of both young missionaries and older couples to reside in and do missionary labor in that area of the world. High Priests, Seventy and Elders whose calling and interest is in this labor attend and participate in this weekly priesthood session.
• c.   Others focus on redemption of the dead in a meeting which replaces the weekly meeting of the High Priests group in each ward. Practical instruction in genealogical research, the organizing of research projects, the implementation of the extraction program, and concern for meaningful participation in temple ordinances are the focus of attention. The conducting of temple preparation sequences for persons anticipating going to the temple for the first time is a responsibility of this group. High Priests, Seventy and Elders whose calling and interest is in this labor should attend and participate in this weekly priesthood session.

3.   Ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood is contingent upon both the worthiness of the individual and upon an expressed and affirmed pledge to be fully active and devoted to these three priesthood activities for the remainder of his mortal life.

4.   In annual interviews with his Bishop, each holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood negotiates with the Bishop his calling in the ward or stake as related to the priesthood group with which he will associate and labor with his heart, might, mind and strength for the coming year.

5.   In subsequent annual interviews (after ordination and assignment of labor) temple recommends are issued only to those persons who, in addition to other worthiness, had been found to be active, diligent and faithful both in fulfilling their formal callings and in fulfilling their agreed upon participation in one of the three priesthood functions.

6.   It is anticipated that every faithful bearer of the Melchizedek Priesthood would move through each of the three activities of the priesthood in the normal course of events. Young elders might first be assigned to meet with the Seventy in preparation for their missions. Upon returning home from their missions, their assignment might be to the Elders, to prepare for their marriages and in participating in the work of converting and strengthening the members of the ward through home teaching. When appropriate, each would be assigned to the High Priests to first work out his own four-generation program, then to participate with others of his own family or group on research and temple work. As appropriate, reassignment to the Elders or Seventy after serving with the High Priests is ordinary.

7.   The solid foundation upon which this work of the Melchizedek Priesthood is based is the accomplishments of each young man in his experience as a bearer of the Aaronic Priesthood. In addition to learning to perform his part in the ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood, each young man works in the program jointly drawn up and agreed upon by the young man himself, his parents, and the Aaronic Priesthood leadership of the ward. The focus of this program is to assure that by the time he is of age to be considered for receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood, he has (a) learned to perform faithfully and well in the work and ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood; (b) has learned to work hard, skillfully and well in some aspect of the physical subduing of the earth (to the point that he could earn a livelihood by this skill, if necessary); and (c) that he is preparing adequately and intelligently for his life’s work (which may or may not be the same as (b) above). Being ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood is contingent upon worthiness and upon a willingness to learn to be a person who works hard, intelligently and skillfully. Being then ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood is then predicated upon worthiness which includes demonstrated ability to work hard, intelligently and skillfully.

8.   The Sunday School activity in each ward is changed from a program in which the students were more or less passive observers and consumers to a program in which each student is assigned to make preparations outside of the class to become responsible for a working knowledge of the scriptures and basic doctrines of the Church. Because this Sunday School program is effective, priesthood meeting time need no longer be used as a second Sunday School session. Thus the work of the priesthood can be the focus of priesthood meeting time.