w13

This week's study was impactful as it tied scripture with social innovation. The reading was powerful testimonies of apostles and prophets from verses of scripture across the standard works into these latter-days.

From the Church Handbook of Instructions, we learn: “The Savior has commanded the Church and its members to be self-reliant and independent. “To become self-reliant, a person must work. Work is physical, mental, or spiritual effort. It is a basic source of happiness, self-worth, and prosperity.
Through work, people accomplish many good things in their lives... “As people become self-reliant, they are better prepared to endure adversities” and are “better able to care for others in need. 

Elder Ballard, in his March 2009 message "Becoming Self-Reliant—Spiritually and Physically", 
laid out five needs for one to achieve self-reliance 
  1. First, every person must know that he or she is a child of God and is loved by Him. People need to realize that regardless of their circumstances, as desperate as those may be, they are entitled to the Light of Christ in their lives. At the root of self-reliance are the dignity and importance of seeing ourselves as children of God regardless of circumstance, culture, or location. 
  2. Second, we need to appraise our own lives. How well are we listening to the Spirit? Are we living according to the eternal truths and doctrines of the restored Church of Jesus Christ? Can we effectively appraise the needs of others by the prompting of the Spirit? (Yanus/micro-lending) 
  3.  Third, we need to remember that every man and every woman has the God-given right to choose what he or she will believe and do.
  4. Fourth, master the ability to think straight. As Franklin said, “The foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly.” Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we’ve selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make. 
  5. Fifth, seek guidance from the Lord and trust in Him. The spirit whispered with undeniable certainty that I am called to this work to feed the hungry, quench thirst, visit the sick, go to those who are imprisoned (Matt. 25)
Elder Wirthlin's conference message from  Oct. 2007 , titled "The Great Commandment was thought provoking. He said that nothing you do makes much of a difference if you do not have charity. The measure of our love is the measure of the greatness of our souls. Do you Love the Lord? Spend time with Him. Meditate on His words. Take His yoke upon you. Seek to understand and obey, because this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others. Prayerfully consider what you can do to increase harmony, spirituality, and build up the kingdom of God, consider your sacred duty to teach others to love the Lord and their fellowman. This is the central object of our existence. Without charity—or the pure love of Christ—whatever else we accomplish matters little. With it, all else becomes vibrant and alive. 

From this course I am more certain that not only is there “a more excellent way.” 1 Cor. 12:31. but that I am enough to take part in serving others and can contribute and bless those who are in need. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

W05 Solution & Impact

Image
The main idea and topic of this past week focused on “ Solution & Impact Evaluation”     Social innovation impact must be measurable and proven.   It’s not to measure impact in order to entice donors and investors, instead, evaluation of solutions and impacts  is for the benefit of the people in whom the program was intended to claim to help .  One of the most difficult social innovation roadblocks in verifying that a solution actually works and doesn’t create more problems.   Reflecting on the article “Hurling and Community Service” and how to go about setting goals . I  was taken back by the negative outlook & attitude of the article “Starfish Hurling and Community Service”. I had heard the story before, but in the context of individuals worth in a religious setting— and simply took away from it that each person matters versus looking at it from the perspective of an approach to solving “world problems”.  Despite the negative tone, ...
Read more

W10 Hybrids & Social Business

Hybrids  -- have 2 legal entities --o ne for-profit and the other non-profit. Keys to both are  social missions and the clear integration of practices or infrastructure from both sectors. They  can be extremely successful, but they also have trade-offs, for instance, the profit driving activities and the social activities conflict so one overcomes the other.  Pure hybrids --are still few in number.   What makes hybrids so successful it that it  produces both social value and commercial revenue through a single, unified strategy --r ather than take a nonprofit m odel and add a commercial revenue stream—or take a for-profit model and add a charity or service program. Early on social innovation was through organizations that primarily pursue a social mission but rely significantly on commercial revenue to sustain operations --and hybrids existed in certain sectors, such as job training, health care, and microcredit. In recent years new sectors have taken shape...
Read more

W12 Self-Reliance & Microcredit

Social business is sustainable, scalable, and replicable which makes it ideal for the output of social innovation which spurs tangible hope for  the most desired society, one that is free from inequality, injustice, negative externalities, or unintended impacts (Taylor, bus374 Spring'21). Taylor went on to say that "this only works if we accept two things … First, humans … possess a desire and capacity for selfless actions. Second, humankind is naturally proactive, not reactive. Luckily, the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ confirms both".   S elf-reliance --  " helps people move from poverty to prosperity  …   self-reliant people possess a set of  A ss ets  t hat come from performing specific  B ehaviors  which in turn results from a set of  C ognitions.  Cognitions are thoughts beliefs and attitudes … r esponsibility touches our deepest sense of right and wrong …  provides the fuel ...
Read more