Here’s a good one for you: How do you tell a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a gentile?
The quantity of Mountain Dew or Diet Coke in their fridge.
Friends of mine take Mountain Dew with their pancakes and swallow ibuprofen with Diet Coke. The lines for establishments like Swiggy are endless. Essentially, Saints run on soda. In my mind, this soda dependence is in lieu of coffee addiction. As we all know, the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89) forbids the drinking of hot drinks: “And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly” (D&C 89:9). This mandate, interpreted as forbidding coffee and tea, is taken seriously in our faith community. For instance, there is no coffee on the BYU campus and drinking it is against the Honor Code.
However, do we take all of the Word of Wisdom as seriously? The majority of D&C 89 is filled with verses proclaiming the need for prudence and sparing use. Yes, the flora and fauna are here for human utilization, but only in times of specific need, “only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine (13)”; not for sport or overindulgence. The Word of Wisdom calls for loving stewardship, not conquering dominion.
Many verses also call for the act of thanksgiving while utilizing the bounty of the earth. The Word of Wisdom tells us we should offer our thanks for the nourishment given to us. As the Doctrine and Covenants promised, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious” (D&C 78:19).
What if we took these parts of the Word of Wisdom as seriously as the coffee prohibition? What if we approached the consumption of food and of earth stewardship “with thanksgiving” and the use of nature’s gifts”sparingly” (D&C 78:12)? What would our lives look like?
I think we would have a world of more conscious consumption. Black Friday rampages would turn into thoughtful purchasing, our fridges would be stocked with enough food for healthy living, but very little food would go to waste (no moldy lemons in the back of the drawer). We would tend small gardens and eat what is in season instead of demanding oranges in the summer and strawberries in the winter. I hope to live in a society in which reckless waste is minimized and we fulfill our needs with thoughtful gratitude. The Word of Wisdom in its complete form provides a meaningful template for considering our relationship to consumption and utilizing the gifts of nature the Lord has provided. Instead of focusing solely on the most basic prohibitions found in the Word of Wisdom, we can broaden its application in our lives by considering it a framework for our choices about consumption, especially in relation to the natural world. By incorporating the wise counsel found in the more neglected portions of the Word of Wisdom we can create new habits of mind and of consumption. As for our LDS soda habit, pass the Diet Coke please!
