A principle with a promise

In my D&C class this morning, we discussed the Word of Wisdom. When I came to verses 12-15, I remembered Liz’s post where she said, “I’m still not certain how I feel about [Nibley’s] idea that respect for life means we shouldn’t eat meat.” Here are the verses:

And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth; and these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

The part that struck me this time was verse 13, speaking of the flesh of beasts and of fowls: “And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.”

First, the word “only.” It’s pretty clear from the previous verse — “they are to be used sparingly” — that this is the meaning “except,” not the modern meaning. In other words, “except in times of winter,” etc. But in verse 15 — “And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger” — does use it in the modern sense. Applying the same reading to both instances of “only” would result in them saying the opposite thing. (Unless, perchance, verse 15 is referring to the “all grain,” in which case the verse would mean that we’re supposed to use grain except when there’s a famine, because there wouldn’t be any grain then. Hmm. I’d never seen it that way till now.)

Anyway, two main thoughts here. First, I tend to ignore the whole “sparingly” bit. I don’t think that those who eat a lot of meat will be unable to go to heaven or anything, but if the Lord says it’s pleasing unto him that we eat it only in winter, cold, and famine, then I think I need to make sure I’m complying. I want the blessings. :)

I wonder if even the “in winter, cold, and famine” exceptions apply — times are different, and we’ve got refrigeration and preservation techniques along with indoor heating and all sorts of things that have made life much easier in the cold season. But the Lord hasn’t retracted it, so we’ll let it stand. :)

Second main thought: grain is to be the staff of life (v. 14). I think I’ve somehow doubted that grains — bread, rice, pasta, etc. — are to be the bulk of what I eat. I don’t know why. But now that I realize the Lord sanctions it (and, less importantly, the food pyramid does too), I feel like those silly doubts have disappeared.

Anyway, I’ve got to run, but I love talking about food. If only I could persuade myself to learn how to cook… :)

Wow Ben, you do have a dizzying intellect! I have cut down on meat over the last few years, especially beef and ham because of scientific findings and you are convincing me to do more of that. I am reminded of a quote in by Thoreau: “One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;’ and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.”

Nutrition is one of my three favorite subjects and I want to write more but I am out of time. That is really cool that a BYU teacher helped out with the food pyramid! No wonder it’s so Word-of-Wisdom compliant!

I guess I didn’t catch on to the italicizing trick with the because the word, ‘Walden’ got left out entirely (the ‘less than’ and ‘greater than’ signs, that is).

That’s a good quote! :) Nutrition really is fascinating, which makes sense since it’s something we’re involved with several times a day. I love food. :)

As for the italicizing, I’ll be adding a little guide outside the comment box pretty soon. Until then, here’s how to do it:

<i>Italicized text</i> = Italicized text

<b>Bold text</b> = Bold text

<a href=”http://www.topofthemountains.net/”>Top of the Mountains</a> = Top of the Mountains (link)

This is one of my favorite topics. I’ve been studying it in depth and I’m trying to figure out what it means to me to live the Word of Wisdom. I love a talk by Elder Packer (I can’t think of the name right now) but he talks about not being vegetarian and not being extreme or fanatical. That was good for me, because it would be easy for me to be a vegetarian. Anyways, maybe I’ll write more later.

Sounds like an interesting talk — let me know when you remember the name. :)

A thought: in some things, like this, moderation or temperance seems to be what the Lord wants for us. But I don’t think “moderation in all things” is necessarily true — we’re not supposed to be “moderately” righteous, nor do I think that being “extremely” righteous is a bad thing. (”Fanatically” righteous might be an oxymoron, though.) Hmm.