Today is the day after General Conference. This was the first time I did not fall asleep and actually listened to every word. I think my motivation to listen to every talk was more out of curiousity than anything. :) I am not sure I will make any comments about what was said in conference, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some words about Zion that I recieved from a friend of mine. (BTW: this is the 40th post on this blog. The number 40 is significant. It was 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. Yesterday marked a new month. It was a new day for me. Hopefully all of you will enjoy the week with Passover/Easter. It is important, and significant.
"One clear lesson from our history is that the very moment we as a people rejected Zion during the Missouri period, we have been slaves in Babylon ever since. Zion and Babylon cannot and do not coexist. They are mutually exclusive and inexorably separate. We have taken on every habit of Babylon and made them our own.
Because every dime we earn comes from Babylon, it’s already polluted when we receive it, so how could God ever want, or need our filthy lucre to build a Zion society? If our hearts were truly attuned to Zion, God would provide all that we need (manna and more) to establish Zion, without any of Babylon’s impurities. We cannot expect to use Babylonian institutions or instruments of any kind in the establishment of a true Zion. It must come by faith, and by the results of miracles which follow our faith. Anything less is corrupted and co-opted by Babylon, and Zion cannot be established on the principles of Babylon. As Zion is God’s abode, then He would provide everything to build Zion, as God surely would not abide a Babylonian built city, or altar, or Throne.
So far as we are aware, there has only been one successfully established Zion society in the history of this world which did not eventually succumb to Babylon. So how did they do it? Somehow I doubt that Enoch’s people established banks to loan money for usury to build Zion. Nor did they start businesses to acquire stock, or to sell their businesses for fabulous profits to initiate a Zion. Enoch did not exchange gold for goods, nor did he barter in real-estate. They did not acquire wealth on the backs of the laboring poor either, as that would be an offense to God. So where did they get the means to build God’s City? Enoch must have awakened to these greater principles, and the resultant miracles built the City.
Somehow, if we can get our minds and hearts wrapped around the idea that EVERYTHING we know and experience in this world is Babylon, then perhaps we can begin to reorient our eyes towards God with an intention and hope to establish Zion. It cannot come from a corrupt institution, a failed priesthood, or from our corrupted hearts. We must extricate ourselves from every idea associated with Babylon in our hopes to build Zion. Then perhaps God will open the door to Zion! Until that time comes and until that people arise, we will still be found rejecting Zion."
