Free Lunch

In recent years I haven’t read very many books besides ones that are required for my school classes. I did however read (actually listened to it on CD as my husband and I drove to Canada) at book by Hugh Nibley. The book is called “Approaching Zion”. It certainly came across as “different” when I first was listening to it because he basically takes how you already think of things, flips everything upside down, and that has you look at everything from new angles. I think that’s one of the reasons why I really enjoyed this book is because it made me think about things in ways I have never done so before and come up with personal determinations to be a better person.

In the book Approaching Zion, Hugh Nibley mentions in his opinion what Zion should be like, how we a people should be, and gives biblical examples to support his points (such as explaining many parts of the Law of Moses). There is one theme from the book that I’ve thought about quite a bit. It’s the world's idea that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”. In order to obtain the necessities of life (aka “lunch”), one has to work/obtain money, and that’s all there is to it. To the world, free lunch does not exist, so the driving force of the world’s economy is to obtain lunch. This goes against what the Lord has told his convent people throughout scriptures. Consider for instance, manna from heaven, or the great commission from the Lord to his apostles.   Hugh Nibley sums it up this way, comparing the Lord to an employer:

“So let us go across the road for an interview with the Other Employer. To our surprise, he answers our first question with an emphatic: ‘Forget about lunch! Don't even give it a thought!’ ‘Take no thought of what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink or wherewith ye shall be clothed!’ ‘But what will become of me then?’ you ask. Not to worry, ‘We will preach the gospel to you, and then you will find out that lunch should be the least of your concerns.’”

This idea has made me think about what my driving force is for the various decisions I make. Am I making a choice because I need to work to earn my lunch, or do I try to follow God’s commandments, trusting he will help me throughout mortality? I like how Hugh Nibley put it: “work we must, but the lunch is free”.