I read this article last month in preparation for my interview with the Monarch mentors. I just finished reading it again and took so much more from it! I guess that's why classics are good to read time after time--you get something different from them each time you read them. The most important premise of this article in my mind was came from asking "Why is there a moral obligation to be intelligent?" Erskine gave several examples from English literature and history that showed intelligence wasn't valued as much as courage or bravery, or physical strength. Yet, if intelligence had been employed, those other attributes would have been secondary in specific situations. For example, in the case of the Titanic sinking, "while we were thrilled to read how superbly those hundreds died,...the tragedy was in the shipwreck of intelligence." The moral obligation to be intelligent (not speeding through an ice burg-filled sea) in this case meant lives would have been saved. Answering the question as to why we should be intelligent leads us to answers of moral obligation, but also that of spiritual obligation. In the scriptures we read "The glory of God is intelligence (D&C 93:36). If his glory is intelligence and we are commanded to become like him, it is our spiritual obligation to gain truth and light (the definition of intelligence, as explained in D&C 93:36). To summarize, the most important premise of this article is that we do indeed have a moral obligation to be intelligent, as well as a spiritual obligation. In teaching my family, this article can provide a source of inspiration for striving to improve and be filled with light and truth. "We believe that the virtues wait upon intelligence (Erskine, p.4)" Seeking intelligence is seeking the will of God. It aligns with the idea that each person has an individual mission and will be given by God what he or she needs to accomplish that mission. Each person in my family can receive that individual intelligence or truth, or guidance--whatever you want to call it. Reading this article frequently can be valuable in keeping a focus on what matters most. If all virtues wait upon intelligence, then striving for intelligence should be taking our greatest efforts and attentions.
