"...behold no man could keep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land."Sounds a lot like today. People losing their homes, their investments, their jobs, their security. And don't think for a minute that there are not secret, Gadianton style, combinations behind much of it. While multitudes lose their grip on the things of the world; self-serving, wicked men are growing in wealth, power and influence by devious means. The decline of our civilization is as literal and real as that of the Nephites.
Now, I don't see this as doom and gloom at all. Just time for a paradigm shift. According to Elder Neal A. Maxwell we don't own anything anyway, that is except our will. I think all of this Latter-day calamity is preparing the righteous to embrace Zion. The time will surely come when we will finally give up the notion of ownership and exchange it for the blessed principle of stewardship. The idea that we own all of this stuff we tend to accumulate is an illusion. It all belongs to God and even if thieves don't steal it, if we cling to possessively to it, God will remove it from us. The great paradox of abundance is that only in giving up ownership are we able to one day possess all that the Father hath.
We who trust the Lord need to alter our vocabulary. We need to exchange the word earned for blessed, the words owned for entrusted, talent for gift, mine for ours and deserve for grace. This may not be easy, because the world had taught us otherwise. Still, the promise is sure, we will be happier and more abundantly blessed if we do.
Now is the time to consecrate our lives. We need not wait for some organization, commandment or structure to be established upon which to hang our Zion hats. We individually, can be part of Zion right now and in so doing, reject what is so clearly bringing destruction upon the Nephites.
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