Balance, Priority, and Spiritual Gifts

  

        The coming of the new semester for me at BYU promises some unique challenges and, hopefully accomplishments, in regards to balance.  With so many competing pressures in our lives, what is most important to us has a tendency to be drowned out by the things we think are necessary.  For example, it has been a somewhat surprising lesson that there are things that are more important to the Lord than school work.  Intuitively, this seems obvious, but how many of us would consider procrastinating homework to go to the temple or study the scriptures a natural decision?

          The reality is that we did not come to Earth to go to school.  We did not come to Earth to make money, get promoted at work, or participate in recreational activities.  We came to Earth to gain the essential spiritual skills necessary to live the kind of life that God lives and to help others to do the same.

          I believe that one day science, technology, and industry will be obsolete and that much of the knowledge and skills we once had in each of these areas will no longer be useful to us.  Prophets have long since encouraged the Church to gain an education, but never have they suggested that secular knowledge is as important as spiritual knowledge.

          Oftentimes we hear the following passage quoted from the Doctrine and Covenants to support secular learning, "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection," but we forget that the definition of intelligence in the scriptures is a spiritual one, light and truth.  To me that means that an increase in secular learning does not automatically translate to an increase in intelligence, although the two are related.  To be most effective, secular knowledge should be second to and interpreted in light of spiritual knowledge.

          By extension, our efforts to balance competing demands for our time need to be qualified by our faith in God.  That is, we cannot rely solely on societal or personal opinions about what is most important to spend our time on and when, or what is possible to fit into our schedule.   Joseph Smith taught that personal righteousness is a requirement for the power of faith to be active in our lives.  When we know that the course of our lives is pleasing to God's will, we can trust that he will enable us to give each priority its appropriate weight and to execute our plans, even when they go beyond our own ability.

          The way that God enables us is through spiritual gifts.  There are an infinite number of spiritual gifts, just as there are an infinite number of circumstances in which they can be used.  They might include things that are almost not visible, such as the gift of delegation or of determination.  These gifts extend beyond our mental capacity and often expand our intelligence in the spiritual sense.  By praying for these gifts and then developing them, we continue along the path that leads to perfection.  We will be able to balance ever-intensifying pressures while not neglecting the day-to-day spiritual and temporal needs of those around us.

And we will truly be happy.