Genesis 1:11-13

This study makes me think of my garden outside. I planted some tomatoes and green beans and watched them grow. All I had to do was to be careful in giving them water on a regular basis and the Lord took care of the warmth from the sun. Too much sun would kill them and too much water too. So, I had the tree above to control the amount of direct sunlight. Not enough sunlight could kill them too. It is a tricky thing. Even weeds, snails, and birds can hurt a "crop." Just like anything good in this life it is difficult. I could not plant anything like I have done for years and let the garden area be taken over by the weeds and have land that is ugly and unproductive. I guess I don't have to start the analogies with our minds and our lives on this right? Too much of this and too much of that can kill the good things I think with my mind and I may never see the fruits of my good efforts. Predators can come and snatch the good things too. The easy thing is to just let any bad thing take over our thoughts and make it a plantation of weeds, ugly and unproductive. I think the Lord made the thing about planting this way so we learn something about ourselves too. We just have to think about it.

In this third day of creation we are talking about plants of all forms. Remember that the land came up and with atmosphere, heat, and water, as the Gods order the ground to yield "fruit" and "herbs" things started to happen. That process happened in many other planets and here was no different. To make that process continue in the next day we will see that they take care of the seasons. Planet and stars were around already but they had to create the right structure to provide for vegetation and animal life to exist. By the time the animals come there is already something to eat, shade for shelter, places to hide from heat or cold, etc.

The wording here is important because they order grass, herbs and fruit trees to come up "yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself." In the book of Abraham we read:

"And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed."

Note that there is an emphasis that the fruits of the ground (grass, herbs, and trees) would come up of their own kind from their own seed. I think they mean that they were natural, that they would not mix like crazy and we would not have long pineapples hanging on trees with soft peal that we can open and eat like a banana. There is an order and things don't just mix. With genetic engineering we can of course create fruits like nectarine and make fruits not spoil and stay crisp for a long time or change their size. This is all true and when I take a bite of them I tend to ask my wife, wondering in my mind, what kind of cancer I am going to get with each fruit that I eat that has been modified by men. I think it is true that we have the power to change some things and that such an act will have a price in the end. I am not against science and I love the fact that the apples stay crisp for so long. I also like the amount of food that we can produce as opposed to Africa where people die of hunger. You would think that by the 21st century we would have learned as human beings how to dominate the ground and have it yield fruit for all the populations of all nations but it is not the case. Somehow the governments of Africa managed to keep knowledge away from people and they keep them hungry so we send money and humanitarian help to them and they don't have to work (the governments that receive the money and don't apply to the people.)

The Gods made this business about the ground perfect and we have the responsibility to learn to use it. Maybe a day will come when technology may fail us and if we don't know how to grow crops we may be in trouble. Maybe that will never happen but if we do grow some stuff, there will be a percentage of what we consume that will not be injected with hormones and stuff and we will be normal people. I wonder what the effects of all the addictive they put on food to make it more tasty and attractive do to our brains. Does it cause depression? Cancer? Same-sex attraction? Violence? Distractions? Attention disorder? Slow thinking? Chemical imbalances? Who knows? Maybe those things may come from birth but maybe it comes from birth because the mother is contaminated with stuff? I can only wonder what contamination by chemicals and genetic engineering in general does.

Fruits and vegetables, the herbs and stuff are supposed to be all good for us but what we buy out there maybe very well contaminated. I am not going to be a farmer and not buy stuff at Harmons anymore, but I think the prophets tell us to plant gardens so we somehow curb the effects of whatever Satan does to the stuff in the grocery store. We also must learn what is good and what is not if we want to be healthy, not eat too much, not eat this and that and start eating some stuff that we never tried and as necessary for our bodies. I hear from Weight Watchers that vegetables are always good for us. Are there bad vegetables? Are there things that make us tired or fat? I wonder what is good and what is bad since the Gods created all the things they created back when.

We cannot make a new fruit. We can combine stuff, but what we eat now, what the world has, is what came with the creation and I think it is fantastic. Think about it. Genetic engineering can only play with what exists. Nature will not invent an new fruit. We can deplete the planet with some kind of fruit or herb or grass but we cannot come up with new ones. That is proof of our limitation and that we must pay attention to that limitation and try to listen to what the Lord has to say to us about nutrition and the use of these things that came up from the ground on the third day.

I also believe that some things affect us spiritually. All vegetation we are talking about in this phase of the creation is spiritual in nature. They will become mortal after Adam and Eve use their power to cause decay to the world but at this point they are spiritual. Some of them will change their bodies. I don't think the prohibition on caffeine, tobacco and alchool are just because they are fun for the world and the Lord wants us to be unique. I don't think that a little will kill us (it may make us addicted) but I don't think that is the point. I truly believe that they affect our spirits somehow, just like the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil affected the bodies of Adam and Eve. The sin of our first parents was not chastity like the Catholic church made it look like, it was the word of wisdom. I wonder about this because the scriptures say that some celestial bodies are different in glory from others, the light is different, something goes wrong at some point and we are resurrected with different bodies and are limited in the end. Maybe there is a detoxification process between now and the final judgment but I do believe that the word of wisdom has a reason that is spiritual and not for this life only, like every other commandment. Addiction is one thing, but there's got to be something else or the Lord would not make it a commandment. Now this is not Mormon doctrine, this is what I think it is about the word of wisdom. So, if you ask me, I will tell you that we don't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol and we don't smoke or take drugs because it will hurt us spiritually - but some LDS people may tell you that it is because these things are bad for your body - which is right - now I think there is more to it and you know why.

Let's think of fruits and vegetables and think how we can improve what we consume so we eat like children of God and not like people of the world. There is much that the devil taught us about food over the years and maybe eating natural is boring but it may be divine. Let's just think about it before we put something in our mouth. Sugar should be our enemy, processed foods too. Is it hard to eat properly? Yes! Is it hard to be chaste in this world? Yes! Is it hard to be honest all the time? Sure! Everything that is good is hard and that is why I have to be careful not to kill my tomato and green bean plants... and that is why I would be careful and not kill my chances to go to heaven with a piece of cheese cake (but maybe cheese cake is heavenly... what do you think?)