Am I condemned for living off of Social Security?
Question
Gramps,
I just read your answer to Robert’s question about retiring and living off of Social Security. He quoted President Kimball’s October 1977 General Conference address that “No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else.” It sparked a question of my own. I come from a family where the ethos is if you are not gainfully employed you’re not a productive citizen. Over the better part of 20 years I’ve worked at 12 different jobs, fired from many for inability to completely fulfill my duties. I have a master’s degree in psychology and a (now-expired) pharmacy technician certificate (fields I thoroughly enjoy and find comparatively easy), so education has never been the issue. I can work, but no more than 20 hours a week and that doesn’t cover the bills or pay for my medical expenses (I’m a cancer survivor of 17 years and have continuing issues stemming from the effects of chemotherapy). My question is, Am I condemned for living off of Social Security disability, as my family regularly implies? Or am I forgiven for having tried and failed despite my best efforts?
Concerned
Answer
Dear Concerned,
Let me emphasize a part of the quote President Kimball gave.
“No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else.”
It seems pretty clear to me that President Kimball is talking to those who are physically and emotionally capable of providing for themselves and their families but instead choose to be lazy and have other people do it for them. If a person is not physically or emotionally able to support themselves, then the shifting of the burden cannot be called voluntary.
In the Church we are very clear that we have the responsibly to turn our desires into action as much as it is possible for us to do so. It is also very clear in the Church that there are sometimes things we simply cannot do, no matter how much we desire to do so. In those cases we have the promise of the Lord that He will understand our limits. Our baptisms for the dead are a good example of this. There are many people who have passed on who never had the chance. Those people are not condemed for their lack of action.
The question that I cannot answer is what your status is. I can’t know all the details. I can’t know how hard you have tried. I can’t know the deepest desires of your heart. I don’t know (or need to know) your medical and/or emotional state. And I am pretty confident that your family doesn’t really know either, in spite of their opinions. The only people who can know that is you and the Lord. Have you taken your concern to Him? If not then do so, if you have, then act on the answer given.
Gramps
It’s good to see this issue come up. Unlike my father and brother some decades before me, I was revived by paramedics after my heart, without any warning symptoms, went into fibrillation (they died, of course). It seems we all have had an inherited form of cardiomyopathy. It ended my driving career and introduced me to the world of those with implanted cardioverter defibrillators.
I cannot work more than 4 or 5 hours in a day before needing a nap; I need 9 hours sleep each night. Barring a miracle, I’ll never work a full 40 hours a week again. I hate it! But it’s what I have to deal with. And I’m slowly allowing myself not to feel guilty about something I cannot change and did not cause.
There is a scripture that states something like : It is not required that a man work more than he has strength.
I am looking towards semi-retirement at 62. Social Security will be a big chunk of my income. I am 57. I am healthy and work out. I figure that there is a fair chance I will be terminated by the time I’m 62. I am living in a state I don’t want to live in. I know if I move to state I’d rather live in chances are I would not be able to find a full time job. Possibly I would work part time or do volunteer work–I like animals or work for causes such an eliminating bullying. There are not enough jobs to keep everyone working until they are 70. I know of people who were forced into retirement at a younger age than they planned. I have had six years of college but my education is obsolete. I have taken classes to update my skills. Still my don’t really have a marketable skill anymore and I do entry level work which is very difficult and very stressful and I’m not very good at it. There are those my age who return to school and get a masters or an MBA but I don’t want to take out a loan to go back to school.
I am mentally ill and actually denied it despite the fact I’ve been sick all my life and have several recent assessments to back up the fact I am not well. My bishop has come down hard on many for not trying but for me, he’s seen I have done everything (and continue to through 3 callings in my ward). I am currently waiting in line for an SSI hearing because at the time of application, I didn’t have current doctor records and was denied 2 times. I work 2.5 hours a day in a chat forum and I tithe; yet with all I do, I feel like I am not pulling my fair share. I figure it’s the medication/mental illness talking or Satan whispering in my ear. Doesn’t help there are some in our wards that abuse the system the church has in place for those who want to so badly but cannot.
This topic reminds me a lot of the story of the battle in Exodus 17 where as long as Moses’ hands were held up the Israelites prevailed. After the battle waged on for a while Moses was no longer able to hold his hands up by his own strength and was assisted by Aaron and Hur. Moses couldn’t just drop his arms and let his helpers do all the work — he was required to continue to exercise faith by giving 100% of what he could and let his helpers make up the difference between what he was fully capable of and what was needed.
Remeber the Parable of the Talents. Jesus taught the important principle of variable capacity on this earth. Some grow up with full capacity and later lose capacity, and some are born with limited capacity. No matter what are abilities compared with those around us, we are all “spiritually handicapped”. We must realize that even those who are perfectly healthy cannot make the sun shine in the morning or manufacture the air they breathe.
“Gospel Principles” Manual (Chapter 37: “Family Responsibilities”) –
“It is also the father’s duty to provide for the physical needs of his family, making sure they have the necessary food, housing, clothing, and education. Even if he is unable to provide all the support himself, he does not give up the responsibility of the care of his family.”
As Fathers in the home, (or even single men), we have the responsibility to provide for the physical necessities of the family (or of the self), even if we are not physically able to do so. However, just because we have to provide the necessities doesn’t mean that we have to do it with our own hands. This is where grace comes in. Grace is that thing that makes up the difference between what we can do and what is needed to meet the basic needs to continue to exist in mortality as long as the Lord sees fit. In these cases, just as Moses, we are to lift up our arms and hold the rod up, even if someone else needs to help us out when we have no strength left.
Part of humility is realizing even when perfectly healthy we cannot do it all on our own and we need the Lord to help make up the difference after all we can do. In a case where one is not able to provide by his own hands, he is expected to do all that he can do, and ask for help to make up the difference from as many sources as is necessary for as long and as often as it takes. The Lord has even given us an order of people that we are to ask for assistance from. First, when our family or selves cannot meet the needs, we ask for help from extended family, and the Church, and then the community and any local or Federal Governmental assistance programs that we may qualify for. We also need to recognize that no matter what luxuries we have grown accustomed to, we are only to ask for assistance in sustaining the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care, not to maintain a certain lifestyle.
The “natural man” is us doesn’t like this answer because it means we have to give up our illusions of control, ownership, and independence, and will either shrink from asking because of pride or hide in shame and fear.
Assistance isn’t an exception to the rule — it is the rule itself.