Digests # Priorities You have reason and conscience to govern your choices. The following priorities are a guide to keep conscience within proper bounds. They are listed by decreasing importance. Try to observe all the priorities. If two must con- flict, prefer the more important one. ¹Avoid compulsion unless immediately necessary to save life, liberty, or property. ²Choose what you will have at the expense of what you wonʼt. ³Give no importance to that which has none. ⁴Tend to your own affairs. ⁵Make promises sparingly. ⁶Keep your word. ⁷Make a- mends. ⁸Be grateful. ⁹Take care of yourself. ¹⁰Be sparing and cautious with behaviors that might be addictive. ¹¹Respect others. ¹²Speak kindly and quietly. ¹³Main- tain a few strong relationships. ¹⁴Maintain stable, long-term relationships with your spouses. ¹⁵Obtain consent from your spouses for all intimate relation- ships. ¹⁶Raise children with your spouses. ¹⁷Spend some time each day quiet and alone. ¹⁸Pray daily. ¹⁹Study the Digests and Messages daily, bal- ancing literal and figurative interpretation. ²⁰Avoid contention. ²¹Forgive wrongs, real and perceived. ²²Maintain political neutrality. ²³Acquire useful knowledge, then act on it. ²⁴Engage skillfully in an occupation, trade, or craft. ²⁵Make an honest profit. ²⁶Incur debts rarely and sparing- ly, and pay them back quickly. ²⁷Ten percent of your annual expenditures should be donations. ²⁸Keep a mod- est reserve of useful assets. ²⁹Smile. ³⁰Serve anonymously, without remuneration. ³¹Maintain your body in hygiene, balance, strength, flexibility, and speed. ³²Devote one day in seven to rejuvenation and spiritual growth. ³³Improve your sur- roundings. # Virtues Every virtue taken to extreme becomes vice. The virtues below are listed in pairs. Bal- ance the two virtues in a pair. If youʼre un- sure how to balance them, err on the side of the first. The pairs are listed alphabetical- ly with no relative importance intended be- tween them. ¹Challenge, comfort. ²Companionship, solitude. ³Con- tentment, ambition. ⁴Detachment, attachment. ⁵Flexi- ble, tenacious. ⁶Generous, frugal. ⁷Gradual, swift. ⁸Holistic, atomistic. ⁹Humble, confident. ¹⁰Independ- ence, conformity. ¹¹Intellect, emotion. ¹²Mercy, jus- tice. ¹³Open, guarded. ¹⁴Prepare, improvise. ¹⁵Si- lence, communication. ¹⁶Simple, abundant. ¹⁷Solemni- ty, humor. ¹⁸Stable, dynamic. ¹⁹Tactful, honest. ²⁰Tradition, innovation. ²¹Tranquility, excitement. ²²Work, repose. # Prayer ¹·¹Offer informal prayer at least three times during your waking hours. ¹·²Position yourself however is meaningful, comforta- ble, and appropriate to your circumstances. ³Pray si- lently or aloud. ⁴Begin by saying, “God in heaven.” ⁵In your own words, express gratitude, acknowledge your faults, and request guidance and assistance. ⁶Pause to listen. ¹·⁷Conclude by saying, “Amen.” — ²·¹Offer formal prayer once or twice during your wak- ing hours, ²with at least one performed outside. ²·³When praying outside, consider turning your back towards the approximate location of the sun. ⁴Pray a- loud if possible. ⁵Make your best effort to perform each posture of prayer in turn: ²·⁶Gratitude: Stand, face upward, eyes closed, hands clasped, until tranquil. ⁷Recite, “God in heaven, I thank you for life, air to breathe, quiet places, and the ability to choose; ⁸for challenges, work, emo- tion, and the gift of reason.” ⁹In your own words, ex- press heartfelt gratitude to God. ²·¹⁰Confession: Bow, face downward, eyes closed, hands on knees. ¹¹Recite, “God in heaven, I strive to keep the Priorities, to balance the Virtues, and to learn from my failures when I donʼt. ¹²I want to be more faithful. ¹³I fall short in these ways.” ¹⁴In your own words, confess to God your failures, weak- nesses, and ways you need to improve. ²·¹⁵Petition: Squat, face forward, eyes closed, arms outstretched, hands cupped to form a bowl. ¹⁶Recite, “God in heaven, you have given me a beautiful world to live in, messengers to teach me, and guidance when I ask. ¹⁷Hear my prayer.” ¹⁸In your own words, re- quest Godʼs guidance. ²·¹⁹Reception: Stand, face downward, eyes closed, hands clasped. ²⁰Recite, “God in heaven, you let the sun rise on good and evil people alike. ²¹You send guidance through a gentle thought, a soft feeling, or a quiet voice. ²²Iʼm listening.” Listen for Godʼs guidance. ²·²³Action: Bow, face downward, eyes closed, hands on knees. ²⁴Recite, “God in heaven, the greatest gift brings no profit when left unused. ²⁵I thank you for giving me guidance. ²⁶I plan to act.” ²⁷In your own words, tell God how you will act on the guidance you have received. ²·²⁸Conclude by saying, “Amen.” # Parables ¹·¹A young child asks his mother, “How is a baby made?” ²Knowing the childʼs rudimentary understand- ing, she responds, ³“The father places a seed in the motherʼs belly, and it grows into a baby.” — ²·¹A king had two vaults filled with treasure, each protected by its own lock. ²The king said that whoev- er opened a vault could have the treasure inside. ³Two men sought the treasure. ²·⁴The first man turned the dials of the lock. ⁵He listened carefully as the mechanism moved inside. ⁶He noticed patterns of sound and vibration within the dials. ⁷After many days of persistence and study, he discovered the combination and unlocked the vault. ²·⁸The second man offered to be the kingʼs servant. ⁹He listened carefully to the kingʼs wishes, and exe- cuted them faithfully. ¹⁰He noticed patterns among the kingʼs requests and anticipated his wishes. ¹¹Af- ter many days of persistence and service, the second man asked the king for the combination and received it. ²·¹³Both men received treasure. — ³·¹There were two lakes. ²The first lake said to him- self, “I will retain every drop of water that flows into me so that I can be great.” ³His waters became salty and putrid. ⁴His fish died and the plants a- long his shore wilted. ⁵Animals and travelers avoided him. ³·⁶The second lake said to himself, “I want to pros- per all life on the mountain below me. I will retain a modest pool for myself then allow each drop to pass down the river to those who might use it.” ⁷His waters became clean and sweet. ⁸His fish grew large and the plants along his shore prospered. ⁹Animals and travelers came from afar to enjoy his splendor. — ⁴·¹Rain, freshly fallen from a cloud, is clean and good to drink. ²As it flows down mountains and across plains, it becomes soiled and bitter. ³The sun must extract pure water from the sea again, leaving impurities behind, to produce fresh rain once more. — ⁵·¹A horse, a dolphin, and an eagle each needs dif- ferent nourishment, ²and yet each grows to full stat- ure and majesty. — ⁶·¹A child asks his mother, “Please get me a cup from the top shelf.” ²The mother reaches the cup for him. ³A grown man asks his mother, “Please get me a cup from the top shelf.” ⁴She responds, “You can reach it yourself.” — ⁷·¹A man mixed one measure of sugar and the juice from one lemon into 2,000 measures of water, ²then served it to his guests as lemonade. — ⁸·¹A man brought eggs home from the market. ²Upon ar- riving, he announced, “I purchased one dozen eggs.” ³His wife said, “No you didnʼt. You bought twelve eggs.” ⁴A son said, “Youʼre both wrong. There are clearly three rows of four eggs each.” ⁵A daughter disagreed, “Not at all. There are four columns of three eggs each.” — ⁹·¹A man decided to climb a mountain. ²He fixed his gaze permanently on the summit and began hiking. ³He tripped over unseen rocks at his feet, ⁴and was una- ble to reach the mountain top. ⁹·⁵Another man decided to climb the same mountain. ⁶He gazed permanently at his feet, to avoid the errors of the first man, and began hiking. ⁷Without tripping once, he wandered off into a valley, ⁸and was unable to reach the mountain top. — ¹⁰·¹A man noticed jigsaw puzzle pieces resting on a table. ²He wanted to assemble the puzzle but pieces were missing, and he didnʼt know how the puzzle should look when finished. ¹⁰·³From time to time he located missing pieces, but there were still too few to guess how the puzzle should look. ⁴One day he found a sketch of the fin- ished puzzle. ⁵He assembled the pieces he had, only to realize that he was still missing some. ⁶He con- tinued searching for missing pieces, placing them where they belonged. ⁷In time, he found all the pieces, and assembled the puzzle into its beautiful, complete form.