Tis better to be stirred up to remembrance by unemployment than famine...

In the Book of Mormon, book of Helaman, chapter 11 verse 4, we read,

"O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee."

I was thinking, "O that I were an angel"...  No, not really, but I am so grateful and glad that in our day, if we need to be reminded to look to God and to be grateful for the overabundance of blessings we already enjoy, a famine isn't sent to chastise us and we're not attacked (but, I guess we are--9/11/00 case in point, and I know that's not the end of the attacks!), but we lose our jobs and have a brother or sister or son or daughter lose their faith (possibly a wife or husband even...), or hopefully we are reading the scriptures constantly and treasuring-up the Words of Life to keep us humble.

I know that I am better able to think straight and clearly (lucidly) when I am not starving or trying to stave off starvation for my wife and children.  Even if we were walking across the plains or doing some hard task, it's easier to not have starvation added on-top of the trial at hand, because starving is hard!

So, I would pray, "O Lord, do not suffer that this people (my family) shall be destroyed by famine; but O Lord, rather let there be a loss of job or a strained relationship or doctrinal doubts (that can be cleared up by a family or ward member), to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto the."

And, it looks like that prayer is being answered.

My reasoning is: I have no idea where the roll starvation plays in the mercy and charity of God in His judgment, but I know that things are more clear (to me and my judgment of things) if a person has every chance and opportunity to choose the right, with no outside forces (that I can see) affecting the decision.  Now, don't start talking about abuse or trauma or even predispositions, because then my clarity and every-chance-and-opportunity flies right out the window...  Actually, I am not a God.  Never have been.  So, I can't judge anyone or anything, though, we are commanded to judge for ourselves--just not others...

JPS