DRESS THE EARTH - CULTIVATE THE MIND - GLORIFY GOD

While reading a talk given by Spencer W. Kimball in the summer 2012 issue of BYU Magazine I was once again stirred into thinking about the purpose of life and what are some of the really important things we should be doing while in our mortal state. Quoting the Prophet Joseph Smith, President Kimball reminded us that “Man was created to dress the earth, to cultivate his mind, and to glorify God.”

Dress the Earth

Smokey the Bear will have to get the initial credit as he boldly taught us to care for the forests we had been blessed with. He growled at us and said we should always leave our camp areas cleaner than when we arrived and never forget to put out our camp fires. My parents added to the concept with their insistence that if anything was worth doing it was worth doing well. They even applied this ditty to pulling weeds in the garden and the flower beds. Kathleen continues to try to show me that the whole earth is a campground and that where ever we are and where ever we go our traces should be erased along with those thoughtlessly left by others. Even golfers are taught that repairing your own divot on the green should be accompanied by the reparation of other divots which might have been left unattended.

Interestingly, the real impact on my mind about dressing the earth as an important part of our mortal passage came while I was reading Everyman’s Talmud (there was no way I would ever be able to make it through the Talmud on my own). Anyway, while reading in Everyman’s Talmud, I was especially moved by the section which taught that the Lord, when he created the earth, deliberately left his work unfinished and then said to Adam that it was his responsibility to dress the garden. Isn’t it interesting that even the Garden of Eden which was reportedly spectacularly beautiful needed to be tended? The teachings of Judaism include the concept that the work was left unfinished with the intention that as part of their earthly probation his children would finish the work. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of each of us to make sure that our little corner of the garden is more beautiful because we dwelt upon it. The Talmud insists that there will be an accountability regarding how well we have cared for the land the Lord God has given us.

Living in Mission Viejo, California I am daily reminded about the possibilities of making the desert blossom like a rose. As I drive down the year-round flowering, vegetation lined streets I witness the fulfillment of man’s beatifying capabilities. I think dress is a very appropriate word to use in describing our responsibility toward mother earth. I envision that the Lord intended that we should dress her in the finest available trappings.

Cultivate the Mind

Ironically, it was near the end of my formal educational process while working on my Doctorate and attending a workshop in Flint, Michigan that the importance of ‘Cradle to Grave’ education finally impacted me. I have written about that experience previously, so I won’t bore those who read it previously with the details. It is sufficient to report that it was during those two weeks I committed myself to a life of cultivating the mind. Finally, after spending the first 32 years of my life in a fairly concentrated string of formal educational experiences, I then knew I had just been being taught how to learn and that now the real excitement of cultivating the mind could begin.

I don’t know to whom to give the credit, but I am sure that like most things in life it was not an original idea. When I was left to my own devices to continue my learning, it came to me that there were some areas of the endless fields before me where I would want to spend a lot of time and there were others where I would barely walk the surface. Somehow I knew I would be aided in making the decisions of whether to linger and dig deeply into a certain field or just gaze about and move on. Louis L’Amour required only a superficial glance as I worked through 91 of his books. However, my latest task of going through the ten year course of the Great Books of the Western World has kept me constantly with a shovel in my hand. Now that I am well into the 6th year of wandering through all the volumes which make up this collection I realize that there are many of the writers who have contributed to western thought which I have placed in the Louis L’Amour camp and other whose words have become like unto scripture to me.

For me, both depth of study and breadth of exploration are important to keep the cultivation of one’s mind fresh and exciting. There are studies which we do because of personal interest and others which we do because we know they will impact us in a positive way. My monthly reading of Golf Digest is an example of the former while the Scriptures and the words of the living prophets would be examples of the latter.

One of the great blessings we have been given is the ability to process symbols and words and have them formulate ideas in our minds. Like most blessings we show our greatest appreciation when we use and magnify them.

Glorify God

I could easily brush off this part of Joseph’s trilogy of reasons for our existence by simply stating who am I that I might think I could ever add glory to Him who is all glory? I could substitute praise for glory and therefore fulfill this direction though hymns and speech. Ultimately, I must come to the conclusion that if I am even remotely to be able to Glorify God it will have to be through striving to emulate His attributes, characteristics and perfections.

Just as I honor my earthly parents by holding to the good in their lives and making it part of my own, just as I show my admiration for those who have mentored me by taking from their teachings and making my life more meaningful, in this same way, it may be possible to glorify God by trying to see through the glass darkly and behold his light and allow it to shine through me.

It might just be possible that as I treat others as He would treat them, as I publish peace, as I sing and witness of Him, as I daily try to be like Him in some small way I am moving toward what Joseph said I needed to do to Glorify God.