Here are some thoughts on the readings from the Old Testament and the Pearl of Great Price that everybody else has already moved on from.

• Being made in the image of God means that creation, rest, and recognizing that our own creations are good are all part of what we were made for
• Subduing the earth was a command given before the fall.  What does that mean? What exactly needed subduing? Of course, so was the command to multiply and replenish which 2 Nephi 2:23 pretty clearly states was impossible until after the fall, so maybe the command to subdue is anticipatory.
• Having dominion is a command to Adam.  D&C 121’s command to avoid unrighteous dominion is not obeyed by avoiding dominion any more than Origen was being chaste by taking a knife to his tallywhacker.
• Dominion is power with responsibility.  In the long run, power without responsibility is just as much gibberish as responsibility without power.
• Moses was given the power to “endure” God’s presence.  Moses 1:2.  The common understanding of ‘enduring to the end’ is that we are waiting out the clock until salvation.  How does it change your view if you think you are being enjoined to learn to endure God’s presence and glory?  It makes me reel to try to see it that way.
• Contra C.S. Lewis, the heaviest weight of glory you have to bear is your own.

Virtues come in pairs in a virtue set, and in some sense opposite pairs.  Boldness and prudence.  Thrift and magnanimity.  Risk and restraint.  Mercy and judgment.  Time and eternity.

By proving contraries, truth is made manifest

-thus Joseph Smith

But the truest virtues seem to be the union of the pair.

Virility and Chastity combine in achievement, marriage, offspring, family.

So does the womanly version.  It is fitting that the highest expressions of male and female sexuality are in combination with each other.

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Our friends have had a lot of wisdom from the springboard of President Oaks recent remarks and the mission-age change for our maidens.

It’s made me think of a virtue set.

For the uninitiated, many virtues and vices or even generally good and bad things seem to fall into a natural pattern of opposites.  Chastity and sexual immorality, for example.  But also many vices seem to be twisted versions of virtues instead of being their opposites.  In fact, it turns out that virtues usually have two vices–an opposite vice and a twisted vice–one vice that is the contrary of the virtue and one vice that is a distorted or misapplied version of the virtue.  But even more amazing, it turns out that the opposite vice is the twisted vice of another virtue and the twisted vice is the opposite vice of that same other virtue.  This is really an astounding fact about the world.

Here’s a typical virtue set

If this interests you, we have done a lot of exploration of this concept and of specific virtue sets under the tag ‘virtue chart‘ or you can just search for virtue chart or virtue set in the search bar.

One of the most useful things about the virtue set is is constantly reveals overlooked virtues and vices, some of which we don’t even have a name for (example here).  Usually those overlooked virtues and vices correspond to real weaknesses in our culture and its fascinating and wonderful to discover them.    Sexual morality is no exception.

Here’s the set:

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Sometimes what a verse means changes when the world around you very strongly points you to a meaning and a feel that you haven’t considered before.

I have taken to walking through the orchards in this lovely winter dawns and twilights.  I was doing it Saturday morning when Genesis 8:22 came to  my mind.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

That’s the KJV at its poetic best, one of those verses that stick in your mind forever

It was particularly poignant because my dad and I had just been reading about tree crops and a description of a Corsican village surrounded by chestnut groves where they have a rhythm of life.  Every year men plant a few new chestnuts they will likely never see the full crop of until they are old.  Every year they cut down a few of the oldest trees their father or grandfather planted.  He and I have been planting a few  more trees and just finished cutting down the gnarled ancient plum that  had finally died, and it all seemed very poignant.  Like our chores were on the edge of eternity.

Then when the sun rose and I walked home, the kids came down for scripture study.  We read this passage from Moses 1–

And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose;…

For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them….

The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.

And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works…

It felt like the top of my head had come off and my soul was exposed to endless space.

There’s a lot to look forward to in the Old Testament.  One thing is the stories like old friends.

Simple, vivid, told in the beautiful poetic language of the King James’ Version, delighting children… and me.

The Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah, Sarah and Isaac, Abraham and Isaac, Rebekah and the servant, Jacob and Esau, Jacob and Rachel/Leah, Jacob wrestling with the Lord,

Joseph and the coat of many colors, Joseph  and Potiphar’s wife, Joseph interpreting the dreams,  Joseph and his brothers, Moses and the bullrushes–the burning bush–the ten plagues–the red sea–too many stories from Moses, Joshua and the battle of Jericho, Gideon, David, Solomon, Elijah….  I’ve left off so many.

We wrestle with these like Jacob wrestled the Lord–why did Isaac favor Esau and why did Rebekah lie to  Isaac and so on–because they are so vivid and real.  It is easy to wrestle down abstractions.

Now that we have finished the D&C I want to off-the-cuff reminisce about what  my personal highlights were.  I encourage everyone to do this.  Learning and growth require some digestion.

JSH-1, D&C 88, D&c 121 and 122, the vision in D&C 110, and D&C 76 are all stunning.  Same with the New Song for baptism for the dead.    Same with 138. To me, their revelatory character is self-evident.  Our best Sunday School lessons last year were those sections where instead of having a lesson or class participation we just read them out loud, to the great strength of the Spirit.

Speaking of Sunday School, tackling Women n the Priesthood head on went very well.  Incredibly well.  In large part because I said ‘no comments’ but one woman raised her hand anyway and the Spirit said to let her rip.

Our usual Sunday School style is highly participatory, but the part where I did a lecture on demography after the Prophet’s conference talk went over incredibly well.

Since we are  heading into the Old Testament it bears mentioning that the over-all feel of the Doctrine and Covenants is like a synthesis of the Old Testament and the New.

the New Testament is individual, focused on salvation and spiritual matters, personal.  The Old Testament is community/ focused on a people and more temporal.  The D&C is a mix  (so is the Book of Mormon)

Happy King’s Day for all Magi.

This has been, from a certain perspective, one of the happiest Christmases I have known.  Really wonderful.  All the family was here, and who knows when that will happen again.

For everyone, for all of us, no matter our condition, better Christmases are coming.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 12 drummers drummin’.

We made a fine procession to the country church.  Back down the road he had brought them on, the drummers drumming, the pipers piping, the lords leaping, the ladies dancing, all for my wedding procession.  Today was to be my wedding day.

— — —

The Eleventh Day and prior

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love to me eleven pipers piping.

“Are you trying to keep me up all night?” I asked.

“Please, woman,” he said with mock gravity, “try to restrain your lurid imaginations.”

Oh!  I blushed furiously.

— — —
The Tenth Day and prior

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love to me ten lords a’leapin’.  It made for quite a spectacle.

“To marry the ladies, plus one for good luck,” he said.

“So there are going to be weddings, are there?” I said.

“Count on it,” he said.

“But until then,” he said, “I guess I will just have to put up with all these rivals for your affection.”

I told him, at some length, that he had no rivals.  I can be eloquent too.

— — —

The Ninth Day and prior.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine ladies dancing.  It was not what I was expecting.  I said, drily, ‘some women might worry they had a secret rival for your affection.  I worry I have nine open ones!”

He blushed and bowed.

— — —

The Eighth Day and prior

(It gave me quite the frisson  to drop this trivial bit of fool nonsense on top of Zen’s opus)

On the eight day of Christmas, my true love gave to  me eight maids’a’milkin’.  And the cows to go with them!

It made quite the procession down the road to my family’s old drafty keep.

Well, if there’s one thing we have plenty of, its probably land that’s fit only for grazing.

I said, “Is this because you think my complexion needs bathed in milk every day?”

He smiled.  “It’s because I want our babies to be fat.”  He cleared his throat.  “Speaking of your complexion…”

And then he was eloquent again.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven geese-a-layin’

“More eggs to throw at importunate Frenchmen,” I said.

He laughed at that.  “With a beauty like you, there will be no end to the French men, and no end to their importunacy.”

That’s why I do these verbal sallies.  I like to see what he comes up with.

So I did another one.

“Why 7 though?  Eight would be a rounder number.”

“But you are a silly goose too, that makes eight.”

Hmmph.

“So we now  have 8 single geese here and no gander,”  I said.

“It’s true you are single, technically.   Yes.”  He hitched his thumbs in his armpits and put on a complacent look.  “Don’t worry your pretty little head.  I’ll look around, see what I can do.”

— — —

Day 6)

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me six swans’ a swimmin’.

“How thoughtful of you to think of our moat when you think of me,” I said.  Our moat, like most, is a little dank.

He just smirked at me.

So I said, “And anyhow, a pair would have sufficed.”

He said, “the point of a pair is to make many, so why not start with many?”

“Well,” I said, “if I start with  many, then I soon will have many many many.”

“All those swans,” he said,  “and one swan-like neck…”

He went on.  He can be very eloquent.

— — —
(Days 1-5)

On the first day of Christmas, I spied my true love riding up to the castle.   He gave me gifts.  A pear tree and a partridge.

“A pear tree will bear fruit for years.  That is a lovely gift.  But why a partidge?”

“Because it begins with a P,” he said.

— — —
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … two turtledoves.
“This is a castle,”  I said.  “We have pigeons all over the place.   It’s quite messy.”
He grinned.  “Love, turtledove.  There are two of them.  I am giving you a symbol.”

— — —

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … three French hens.

“Well,” I said, “its true that eggs have many uses around the home.  Baking, scrambling, sustaining drinks…”

“Throwing from the battlements at unwanted suitors,” he said.
“And I suppose my unwanted suitors will be French?” I asked.

“well, I’m not French,” he said, “so…”

— — —

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … four calling birds.

“Because the sweetest sound I know needs a rest or it will be strained,” he said.  “These can give you breaks from time to time.”

He meant my voice.  I really do like the things he says.

— — —

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love brought to me … five golden rings.

“Why 5,” I said.  “One is enough.”

He said, “If you said no, I had to be prepared to wear you down.”

“But I said yes.”

“True.  And I liked the sound of it so much I am going to ask it again 4 times.”