Of one heart and soul

My husband and I were talking to our 12-year-old daughter this week about stewardship. As with most older siblings, she doesn’t like it when her little sister goes into her room and messes with her stuff. She has gone through different iterations of the “Private: Do Not Enter” signs over the years. She declares that it’s her room, her property, and her rules.

We explained that, technically, her room is part of our house, full of things we purchased. While we want her to enjoy her space and her stuff, it doesn’t really belong to her. She is responsible for taking care of her room and keeping it clean. We intend for her to use the space to read, study, sleep, and grow into her best self. She is a steward of these things, and we want her to use and enjoy them. But we don’t want her to fight with her sister.

Ultimately, our house, savings, and property are not ours either. God created the earth and all that it contains. He has placed each of us as stewards over the things we have: our time, talents, money, children, and property. He lends us these things to see what we will make of them. Will we take care of and honor our families? Will we use our professional talents and time to build our communities and serve our neighbors? Are we willing to share with those who have less than we do without judging them as unworthy of our help?

The natural desire to obtain more property, power, and wealth than our neighbors (or little sisters) exerts a mighty pull on us all. The pursuit of private property is the bedrock of our economy. Yet, in his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord advised us to seek treasures in heaven (not on earth). He declared that no one could serve two masters, that “you cannot serve God and Mammon” (see KJV Matt. 6:19-34).

He further explains, “I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low. For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves” (D&C 104: 14-17).

If all things belong to the Lord, our will, our power to choose, is our only actual possession. When we use our agency to obey his commandments, serve each other, and build more loving communities, we give him something freely from our hearts. It is the truest gift we can give, and it shows that we are faithful stewards of his blessings.

While we are surrounded by messages of scarcity and fear, the earth is divinely designed to provide for the needs of all people. God commands us to care for each other, share what we have, and not look at our neighbors’ (or our own) possessions with envy or greed. James taught that “pure religion” is to “visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction” and to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

I gladly anticipate a future without poverty, contention, and wars. “And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). As with the city of Enoch, Zion communities are distinguished by their unity, obedience, and lack of poverty. The early disciples of Jesus Christ lived with “all things in common” for a while after Christ organized his church on the earth—both in Jerusalem, and in the Americas (see 3 Nephi 26:19 & 4 Nephi 1:3). Acts 4:32 describes the early Christian community of the New Testament this way: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.”

Just as my husband and I combine our efforts and resources to support our daughters’ growth, the Lord gives each of us opportunities to support and grow our broader community of family, friends, neighbors, and congregations. It is easier to imagine a community of sharing when everyone is focused on the Lord. This unity of purpose and worship magnifies individual efforts to meet the needs of each person. While a future in Zion feels like a long way off, I feel God’s light shining on my efforts. I find peace as I choose to build Zion in my corner of the world.

Amity Condie has lived in Palmer since 2004. She loves reading, skiing with her dogs and family, and napping in sunlight. She is currently a graduate student in UTK’s Master of Social Work Trauma Certificate program and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.