Episode 103: Giving It Your All – Law of Consecration

You are now officially part of my personal ARCHIVE. It was cool while it lasted, though.

Yeah, this is what happens when the priesthood is in charge of something. It falls through the cracks never to be found again. Just like the time when I put the Elder's Quorum in charge of bringing the food for the ward campout and when I called the day before to make sure things were good-to-go the presidency had 'deligated' it right out of existence so my wife and I had to go get it all at the very last minute.......sad.

I suppose at this point it's futile to hope that you guys might ... oh, never mind.

Please, come back!

I agree with Panpasak...come back! We miss you! Your disappearance didn't have anything to do with Sasquatch, did it?

Keep up the podcast!

First, I would like to comment on socialism. The comment was mad that whatever the government runs it always inefficiently. I do not believe this is an accurate statement.

Yes you can point out many areas that are not perfect, and the mistakes that are made. But to be fair you are over looking all the things the Government does better than anyone els. In our own country we see many of these examples. We have the best road system in the world. These roads are used by citizens as well as business. This is a huge benefit to all of us. Water, sewer, power, and trash all are at least semi socialistic and we in our country have some of the best of this in the world.

We complain a lot about our education system in this country, but we are the only country and the other that attempts to educate all of our students. When I was at BYU collage of education Ukraine's department of education came to visit on a tour of the US education system. We asked why they were coming to the US when they had all the countries in Europe that we hear about. They said you can compare them in different ways, but the US education system is the envy of the world. It is our system that is the standard. I know that our school system has huge problems but we do the best job in the world.

On the contrary go to the United nations web site and look up health care. We are the only industrialized nation that does not have some form of socialized medicine. We spend three times per person what the next most expensive system does and we do honorably. We are number 37 in the world for infant mortality. Babies born in Mexico have a better chance of survival than those born in the USA. Our capitalistic non-government run health care system is close to the least efficient in the world.

I think we confuse efficiency with profitability. Yes we have a highly profitable health care system, and a very unprofitable road system. I worked for five years in Oregon States welfare system and there are real problems there, but I believe it is much more efficient than the highly profitable efforts of Halaburton in Iraq.

You point out the church welfare system as an example of efficiency because it is designed to help people get back on their feet and not keep them on the dole. Yes it is designed to do this, but it does not always work. The government system is also designed to do this, and some times works well, but not always.

Second, is not the law of consecration really just living charitably? The more we perfect charity in our harts do we not live the law of consecration better. When King Benjamen asks us to give the bagger according to his wants, and if we do not have enough to give we would say if I had I would give, wasn't he talking about the Law of Consecration?

Wow you guys...were...back... hm. Was so excited to see new episodes when I just happened to think of (and check) the podcast (albeit 4 months too late. lol)! Hope there will be more soon! Love you guys!
Amy (in Australia)

Ya'll need to update. -A yocal Oklahoman

Thanks for the podcast. It was fun.

Day 73 - Dear diary, things look bleak. There has been no further word from the one they call Troy, Sean, or even the Brothers Mitch. I have run out of room to notch out the days on the side of my iPod. Most have deserted their post. Those that remain jeer at me and say I remind them of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin. But I am confident the Brothers will bring a hot dish to the table soon. Show me a sign! Bless me with a podcast!

It is great that you've started up the show again. I've thought about this topic of late and this broadcast had me thinking that I'd need to look at the world through a different set of lenses, so-to-speak. It is so easy to identify with a certain political mindset and view the world in narrow terms. How different would I see the world if I looked at it through the eyes of a 'Christian' instead of 'republican' or democrat? I think I'd have a lot more to gain if it I consecrated myself to a more eternal paradigm, and viewed politics on a more secondary level.

So how did I get from your broadcast to this? Well, I forget. But you guys certainly spurred me on. Keep it up!

It's been a wee bit over a month. My PotLuck withdrawl got so bad I went to the ER. I told them I needed some tuna casserole for my ears, but all they had was Jello (which did wonders for the itchy rash). The doctor said I'd turn into sasquatch unless I heard the next episode of Mormon Potluck Podcast. Help me out, guys!

Hang in there Kermit! We are not done yet, just a busy calendar for brethren. Next episode should record soon and we will get it posted ASAP.

Thanks for listening!

Hey guys! Great episode!

I believe that consecration is a great topic to discuss and I definitely believe that everyone needs to find their way to live in a way that reconciles with this concept.

I can tell you what I have done that works for me. When I move and have a new bishop I make an appointment and meet with him and tell him that I do not have much in the way of material goods but if he needs anything he just needs to call on me and I will give it willingly.

At that point, I feel I have raised my hand and told my priesthood leader that he can count on me and then I respect his right to be inspired as to when to call on me. I do not think this is total consecration, but it is a start!

I too, will restrain from making any further political comments. I can't top three guys (I think you were one short that day) exploring BOTH religious and political ideas at the same time in a civil and well thought out manner.

I am also ignorant about the specifics of the origin of the law of consecration. However, I have an interest in upstate NY history, especially during the early 1800s. The kind of ideas you were talking about during the your discussion of the law of consecration are reminiscent of utopian societies which were popping up around that time, especially in upstate NY. Utopian societies were religious communal communities. The most well known outside of Mormondom were the Shakers (a la Shaker Funiture) and the Amana Colony (a la Amana ranges). You might be interested to read about utopian societies in Wikipedia. They devote a paragraph to Mormons and quote 'a world renowned authority' Peter Drucker as saying, "The Mormons are the only Utopia that has ever worked."

Kermit

I actually told myself I wouldn't allow myself to make any political comments here in the comments. And, as much as it may kill me, I won't :D

Mike,
Your second link was a good read. There were some points I'd not thought about before and I'm glad you shared. I would actually love a full blown discussion of this topic one day on the Potluck, but we'd need to bring in at least one other dem so I'm not alone :P

Kermit,
I'm going to pretend your fist pump was for something I said. I'm one of the Mitches by the way!!

Thanks for the comments!

Brother Mitchell, the younger

Good job guys!
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Once again, I am very glad to see you back in your boots. It is very refreshing to hear you talk about politics honestly and express their viewpoints without resultant fisticuffs. You are what's right (or left. I don't want to pick sides) about America. I was mowing my lawn when I was listening to your last podcast and did a fist pump toward the end. Then I looked around to see if any of my neighbors were watching me embarrass myself. It must have looked like I was taking excessive pride in nailing a dandelion with my riding mower.
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Your show is appealing to at least this non-LDS listener. As such, I am starting my own Mormon Potluck Podcast fanclub for non-LDS members. Right now, it's just me and my dog. We will call ourselves Sasquatche's Gentile Giants.

If I could be so bold as to make one minor suggestion. It is a little hard to keep track of who is who. If you could possibly occasionally identify yourselves in a casual manner during the podcast, it would help. Which voices go to which names gets so jumbled by half way through the podcast that I start thinking of you all as Mitch#1, Mitch#2, Mitch#3, and the guy that was born of two jet engines.</record></queue>

Kermit,

So glad you made it to the Potluck! We are glad you find the podcast enjoyable, especially as a non-LDS listener. Our intention has always been to produce a show that while focusing on live as a Latter-day Saint, still appeals to anyone.

Your suggestion about identifying each other is a good one. I know it can be confusing especially with 2 of us named Mitch. We will see what we can do.

Thanks for listening.

Elder Mitch

Good episode.

On the taco bell pacific shrimp, I do think they are possibly Nation wide. We have them here in Utah and I found mention of it on a blog from New York. But "pacific shrimp" is nothing to be proud of, pacific shrimp are farmed from Thailand. Better shrimp are wild caught from the gulf of Mexico.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/...

As far as why mormons tend to be Conservative Republican it seems pretty obvious to me. It tends to fit in easily with the moral values that the church pushes. There are other reasons why LDS members tend to lean Republican.

http://reachupward.blogspot.co...

I tend to be a true Moderate as I don't necessarily believe a full endorsement of one side is 100% correct.

One thing I find interesting is a quote I heard once.

Liberals tend to trust government too much.
Conservatives tend to trust business too much.

Ahh, Gulf shrimp. For several years some friends and I used to order in 20 lbs. of shrimp from Louisiana for a shrimp boil on New Years Eve. Best ever. Guess those days are over. :(

Your thoughts about why Mormons lean toward conservatism is a point I would have made eventually. Like you, I tend to be moderate but identify with the GOP on many fronts. In the end, both parties have their faults IMHO.

Glad to hear you are still listening Mike. Thanks for your comments.

Elder Mitch