89. With Prudence and Thanksgiving

Speaker: 00:00:01

Hooray, GIA here.

2

: 00:00:04

I'm this week's host of the

Creative Spiritual Journey podcast

3

: 00:00:08

where Judy and I talk about those

things that bring us joy for me.

4

: 00:00:13

I find joy by connecting with

nature, connecting with Jesus

5

: 00:00:17

Christ and our heavenly parents.

6

: 00:00:19

Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

7

: 00:00:25

this remarkable journey we call life.

8

: 00:00:29

I am excited today because today I want

to talk about prudence and Thanksgiving.

9

: 00:00:36

Does that sound a little odd to you?

10

: 00:00:38

Of course.

11

: 00:00:39

Talking about Thanksgiving

sounds appropriate.

12

: 00:00:42

The US National Holiday is only

about a week away, but prudence, what

13

: 00:00:47

does that have to do with anything?

14

: 00:00:50

Let me explain.

15

: 00:00:51

As you know, this year I did

a series about the four dues

16

: 00:00:56

I see in the word of wisdom.

17

: 00:00:58

But I left out one part that I

think is important in doctrine

18

: 00:01:03

Covenant section 89 verse 11.

19

: 00:01:05

It says, every herb in the season

thereof and every fruit in the

20

: 00:01:11

season thereof, all these to be

used with prudence and Thanksgiving.

21

: 00:01:17

In my list of the four dues in

the word of wisdom, I included

22

: 00:01:22

eating seasonally with prudence

and Thanksgiving as the second due.

23

: 00:01:27

and I talked about eating seasonally

and podcast 77, but I didn't

24

: 00:01:33

have time to talk about eating

with prudence and Thanksgiving.

25

: 00:01:37

So that is my plan for today.

26

: 00:01:39

Because before studying the word

of wisdom, I never fully considered

27

: 00:01:44

what these words, prudence and

Thanksgiving had to do with food.

28

: 00:01:49

So what do you think

about the word prudence?

29

: 00:01:53

It's not one we often use these days,

which makes it seem old fashioned to me.

30

: 00:01:58

I think it sounds like the name of

a character we might find during the

31

: 00:02:02

regency period of Pride and Prejudice.

32

: 00:02:06

A character expected to be

modest, sensible, and cautious.

33

: 00:02:11

But when I looked up the

definition of prudence, I found

34

: 00:02:14

something completely unexpected.

35

: 00:02:17

At first, there were the usual references,

the ability to govern and discipline

36

: 00:02:22

oneself, having good skills and judgment.

37

: 00:02:26

Cautious and circumspect.

38

: 00:02:28

Then I found the synonym ity.

39

: 00:02:32

What?

40

: 00:02:33

I didn't even know what that

word meant and had to look it up.

41

: 00:02:37

Sagacity means having good mental

discernment, good judgment.

42

: 00:02:43

That's a great definition of prudence.

43

: 00:02:46

Good judgment, sagacity or sagacious.

44

: 00:02:50

I want to be sagacious.

45

: 00:02:52

It sounds much less stuffy than prudence.

46

: 00:02:56

Still, I wasn't ready to give up

on Prudence, so I looked up the

47

: 00:03:00

1828 definition, the definition

that would have been more common

48

: 00:03:05

during the life of Joseph Smith.

49

: 00:03:08

Here I found my favorite

definition of prudence, which

50

: 00:03:12

is wisdom applied to practice.

51

: 00:03:16

Did you hear that?

52

: 00:03:18

Wisdom applied to practice?

53

: 00:03:21

Prudence means doing

something with wisdom.

54

: 00:03:24

It's not just enough to simply

have wisdom to use prudence.

55

: 00:03:29

We must do something with that wisdom.

56

: 00:03:32

It sounds to me like a call to action.

57

: 00:03:35

We can't just read the word of wisdom.

58

: 00:03:37

We must live it.

59

: 00:03:39

Don't just eat food.

60

: 00:03:41

Eat with wisdom, eat wisely.

61

: 00:03:44

I love it.

62

: 00:03:46

Okay, let's move on to

the word Thanksgiving.

63

: 00:03:49

Here's what's interesting.

64

: 00:03:50

Thanksgiving, the holiday wasn't a

thing in the life of Joseph Smith.

65

: 00:03:55

Did you know that?

66

: 00:03:57

In fact, the national holiday, as we

know, it wasn't even established until

67

: 00:04:02

18 63, 30 years after Joseph Smith

received the word of wisdom revelation.

68

: 00:04:09

There was a regional custom

of Thanksgiving, but this

69

: 00:04:13

was only practiced in the New

England States of Massachusetts.

70

: 00:04:18

Connecticut and New Hampshire, not

in the places Joseph Smith lived.

71

: 00:04:24

I'm going to talk more about the

establishment of this holiday in a

72

: 00:04:27

few minutes, but first I want to talk

more about this word, Thanksgiving

73

: 00:04:33

and why Joseph Smith chose to use it.

74

: 00:04:36

Why didn't he just say

gratitude, eat with gratitude?

75

: 00:04:40

I mean, that sounds like the obvious

word to me, but as I wondered about

76

: 00:04:45

this, I realized Joseph would've been

familiar with the word Thanksgiving

77

: 00:04:50

because it's frequently used in the

King James version of the Bible.

78

: 00:04:55

Here are a few examples.

79

: 00:04:58

Let us come before his presence

with Thanksgiving and make

80

: 00:05:02

a joyful noise unto him.

81

: 00:05:04

With Psalms, enter into his

gates with thanksgiving and

82

: 00:05:09

in his courts with praise.

83

: 00:05:11

Be thankful unto him and bless his name.

84

: 00:05:16

Every creature of God is good

and nothing to be refused if

85

: 00:05:20

received with thanksgiving.

86

: 00:05:23

In every prayer and supplication

with thanks, let your requests

87

: 00:05:28

be made known unto God.

88

: 00:05:31

So while Joseph Smith wasn't educated

and perhaps didn't have a wide

89

: 00:05:35

vocabulary, he certainly would've been

familiar with the word Thanksgiving.

90

: 00:05:41

But in my study, things became more

interesting as I was looking into the

91

: 00:05:46

etymology of the word Thanksgiving.

92

: 00:05:49

Thanksgiving is a compound word,

which comes from middle English,

93

: 00:05:54

And instead of being Thanksgiving

with the accent on the second word,

94

: 00:05:58

the way we say it for the holiday,

It could be pronounced Thanksgiving

95

: 00:06:04

with the accent on the first word.

96

: 00:06:06

Can you hear the difference in my voice?

97

: 00:06:08

Thanksgiving.

98

: 00:06:10

Thanksgiving.

99

: 00:06:12

So this original meaning would

literally have meant the act of giving.

100

: 00:06:17

Thanks.

101

: 00:06:18

Thanksgiving.

102

: 00:06:20

Oh, this is interesting because

we have another action word.

103

: 00:06:25

We don't just want to

have thanks or gratitude.

104

: 00:06:28

We want to give our thanks

as in give thanks to God.

105

: 00:06:34

Give thanks to the earth

for producing our food.

106

: 00:06:37

Give our thanks to the

person who cooked it.

107

: 00:06:40

Do you find this fascinating?

108

: 00:06:43

I had no idea I was going to find

these action words when I began

109

: 00:06:47

studying prudence and Thanksgiving.

110

: 00:06:50

Wisdom needs to be applied.

111

: 00:06:53

Thanks.

112

: 00:06:53

Needs to be given.

113

: 00:06:55

We need to take action.

114

: 00:06:58

So here's where I wanna go back to

the story about the establishment of

115

: 00:07:02

Thanksgiving as a US national holiday.

116

: 00:07:06

Have you ever heard

about Sarah Josepha Hale?

117

: 00:07:10

I am not sure with all the American

history I studied as a child, how I

118

: 00:07:14

missed learning about her, but as I

recently discovered, she was one of

119

: 00:07:20

the most influential women of the 18

hundreds, and I think she's fascinating.

120

: 00:07:26

born in 1788 in New Hampshire.

121

: 00:07:29

Sarah was fortunate enough to be

raised in a family that believed in

122

: 00:07:34

education for girls, thank heavens.

123

: 00:07:37

At 25, she married David Hale

and quickly had five children.

124

: 00:07:43

Then after only nine years

of marriage, she was widowed.

125

: 00:07:47

At the time, she put on black

morning clothes and wore them

126

: 00:07:51

for the rest of her life.

127

: 00:07:53

In 1827, she published a novel

about slavery, making her one of

128

: 00:07:59

the first women in the United States

to have ever published a book.

129

: 00:08:04

Isn't that amazing?

130

: 00:08:06

This literary success led her to

becoming the editor or editor.

131

: 00:08:11

As she preferred to be called of the

Ladies magazine, one of the first

132

: 00:08:16

magazines written for and by women

133

: 00:08:20

This magazine was eventually bought out

by Godley's Women's Book, which Sarah

134

: 00:08:25

edited until she retired at the age of 89.

135

: 00:08:30

Sarah is famous for being the

author of the children's poem.

136

: 00:08:34

Mary Had a Little Lamb.

137

: 00:08:37

Did you ever wonder who wrote that poem?

138

: 00:08:40

Now you know, she was an advocate for

women's education and helped found

139

: 00:08:45

Vassar College, an all women's school,

and she also worked to establish the

140

: 00:08:51

monument at Bunker Hill and to preserve

Mount Vernon George Washington's home.

141

: 00:08:58

But here is the part I really

wanted to tell you about.

142

: 00:09:02

As I said earlier, Sarah

was born in New Hampshire.

143

: 00:09:06

One of the New England states,

which means unlike Joseph

144

: 00:09:11

Smith, she grew up celebrating

Thanksgiving somewhere around: 1846

145

: 00:09:18

While she was working for Godleys,

she began to feel the strain of

146

: 00:09:23

division going on in the country and

got the idea that the United States

147

: 00:09:28

needed a national day of gratitude.

148

: 00:09:32

A day when Americans across all regions

and political divisions could unite.

149

: 00:09:38

So you know what she did?

150

: 00:09:40

She petitioned the president at the time.

151

: 00:09:43

It was Zachary Taylor when

her petition was turned down.

152

: 00:09:48

Did she give up?

153

: 00:09:50

Nope.

154

: 00:09:51

She petitioned every president

for the next 17 years.

155

: 00:09:56

Until finally in 1863,

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed

156

: 00:10:01

Thanksgiving, a national holiday.

157

: 00:10:04

Do you love her?

158

: 00:10:05

Tenacity?

159

: 00:10:07

It's awesome.

160

: 00:10:08

And her willingness to take action.

161

: 00:10:11

That's what I'm talking

about when I say prudence and

162

: 00:10:14

Thanksgiving are action words.

163

: 00:10:17

Sometimes we tend to think that as

individuals, it doesn't matter much what

164

: 00:10:22

we do because who's going to notice?

165

: 00:10:25

What difference is it going to make?

166

: 00:10:27

But I think we can make a difference.

167

: 00:10:30

And the first step is to take action.

168

: 00:10:33

Now, I don't doubt that everyone

listening to this podcast is

169

: 00:10:38

taking action in some form.

170

: 00:10:40

Because I happen to know that everyone

listening to this podcast is an awesome

171

: 00:10:45

person and I want you to take action

wherever is appropriate for you.

172

: 00:10:51

You do you.

173

: 00:10:53

But I just want to share two

recommendations of where I would love

174

: 00:10:58

to see everyone take action this season.

175

: 00:11:01

Take these as you will, and know that

this is just me trying to take action.

176

: 00:11:07

Right?

177

: 00:11:08

Okay, number one, I love that Sarah

Hale's intention with a National Day of

178

: 00:11:15

gratitude was to help unite the country.

179

: 00:11:19

Can you imagine the fear she was

facing with a civil war on the horizon?

180

: 00:11:24

Now, I am not super political.

181

: 00:11:27

I definitely have my opinions, but I don't

have a hard line for one political party.

182

: 00:11:33

Still right now with everything that

is going on in the world, if there was

183

: 00:11:38

anything I could do, it would be to

help unite people to help unite this

184

: 00:11:44

country with this in mind right now in my

relatively small sphere of influence, I

185

: 00:11:52

want to invite you to listen to a podcast

from Faith Matters called How to Love Your

186

: 00:11:57

Enemy with Arthur Brooks, it provides a

small but powerful way that each of us

187

: 00:12:04

can take action in creating more unity.

188

: 00:12:08

I will include a link in the show note.

189

: 00:12:12

The second point I want to share is

more in line with the nature connection

190

: 00:12:17

theme I have for this podcast and is

focused on these powerful words, prudence

191

: 00:12:23

and thanksgiving as we find them in a

revelation given for our time about food.

192

: 00:12:30

My invitation is to look for ways to

act in the name of wholesome food,

193

: 00:12:36

First of all, buy it, eat

it, share it, talk about it.

194

: 00:12:42

I truly believe that our food connects

us to nature, and connecting to nature

195

: 00:12:47

has the potential to connect us in

unique, unexpected ways to Jesus

196

: 00:12:52

Christ and our heavenly parents.

197

: 00:12:55

I believe how we eat makes a

difference in our lives, both

198

: 00:12:59

physically and spiritually.

199

: 00:13:02

I hope you believe this.

200

: 00:13:03

Honor it and use it.

201

: 00:13:06

It's my assertion that giving thanks to

God is not something we merely express In

202

: 00:13:12

prayer, we show our thanks for our food in

how we eat and how we feed our families.

203

: 00:13:20

it's my goal to eat with prudence,

care, wisdom, thoughtfulness, ity.

204

: 00:13:26

I want to recognize limits.

205

: 00:13:29

The Earth's ecosystems are delicate,

wastefulness and greed upset its balance.

206

: 00:13:35

I want to practice sustainability and

only take what can be replenished.

207

: 00:13:41

I want to act with Thanksgiving and

prudence, And I believe I can do

208

: 00:13:46

this by showing my God reverence

for the earth as it sustains me as

209

: 00:13:52

I wrote the word reverence just now.

210

: 00:13:55

I was reminded of the talk reverence

for sacred things by Elder Ulysses

211

: 00:14:00

Sore in his talk, he says, showing

reverence for sacred things gives meaning

212

: 00:14:07

to much of what we do every day and

strengthens our feelings of gratitude.

213

: 00:14:14

he was talking here about how reverence

applies to our temple worship and our

214

: 00:14:19

homes, but the idea of how showing

reverence gives meaning to what we do

215

: 00:14:24

every day makes me think about food.

216

: 00:14:28

We eat food every day.

217

: 00:14:30

So I believe as we show reverence for

our food, our food becomes sacred.

218

: 00:14:37

And as I eat from this earth, I want to

meet each meal with both Thanksgiving.

219

: 00:14:42

The act of giving thanks and

prudence wisdom applied to practice.

220

: 00:14:49

To eat with Thanksgiving is To approach

it with reverence, and to share our

221

: 00:14:53

feelings with God in prayer and action.

222

: 00:14:57

To act with prudence is to act with

wisdom, to choose wisely and to

223

: 00:15:03

honor the limits of the land that

sustains us Together, prudence and

224

: 00:15:08

thanksgiving turn a simple meal

into a mindful reverend practice.

225

: 00:15:16

Judy and I know that your time is

precious and that you have many choices.

226

: 00:15:21

We love that you have chosen to walk

with us for a few minutes as we navigate

227

: 00:15:26

this remarkable journey of life.

228

: 00:15:29

This Thanksgiving, it's my prayer

that you will remember and apply

229

: 00:15:34

the words of Benjamin Franklin.

230

: 00:15:37

Well done is better than well said.

231

: 00:15:42

Namaste.