🌿 What If Zion Looked More Like This?
🌿 What If Zion Looked More Like This?
This week, something happened at the World Cup that caught my attention.
After Japan's thrilling 2-2 match against the Netherlands, thousands of fans began leaving the stadium.
Or perhaps I should say they didn't leave.
Instead, they stayed.
While many fans around the world would have been celebrating, taking pictures, or rushing to their cars, Japanese supporters quietly pulled out blue bags and began picking up trash.
They cleaned the stadium.
Not because anyone asked them to.
Not because there was a reward.
Not because cameras were watching.
They simply believed it was the right thing to do.
One fan explained it this way:
"We have to think about everyone."
Another said:
"This is our culture."
As I watched the videos, I found myself thinking about Zion.
Not the Zion we talk about.
The Zion we live.
Sometimes we imagine Zion will arrive through great movements, powerful leaders, large organizations, or dramatic events.
Maybe.
But perhaps Zion begins much smaller.
Perhaps Zion begins when people stop asking:
"What do I get?"
And start asking:
"What can I leave behind for others?"
The Boy Scouts used to teach a simple principle:
"Leave things better than you found them."
That may be one of the greatest descriptions of Zion I have ever heard.
Leave the campsite better.
Leave the neighborhood better.
Leave the family better.
Leave the church better.
Leave the world better.
When I study the Nemenhah records, I see this same spirit.
Again and again, the focus is not upon self.
It is upon community.
Upon caring for one another.
Upon lifting burdens.
Upon ensuring there are no poor among them.
Upon seeing ourselves as part of something larger than ourselves.
The Japanese fans were not preaching.
They were not arguing.
They were not trying to convince anyone of anything.
They were simply living a principle.
And in doing so, they taught the entire world.
Perhaps that is one reason Christ spent so little time arguing and so much time serving.
He healed.
He fed.
He comforted.
He washed feet.
He left every place He visited better than He found it.
Maybe Zion starts there.
Maybe it starts with a kind word.
A cleaned-up mess.
A forgiven offense.
A helping hand.
A quiet act of service that nobody notices.
Maybe the question is not:
"How do we build Zion?"
Maybe the question is:
"What can I leave better today than I found it?"
One family.
One friendship.
One neighborhood.
One heart at a time.
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A few months ago, my wife and I traveled to Hawaii for our granddaughter's wedding. What we experienced there reminded me of the same spirit I see in stories like the Japanese fans cleaning the stadium after a World Cup match. People simply helped one another. They served without being asked. They left things better than they found them. The Aloha spirit was everywhere, and for a brief moment it felt like a small glimpse of Zion.
Some believe the islands of the Pacific may have been settled, at least in part, by descendants of Hagoth and other seafaring peoples mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The Nemenhah records speak of groups who separated from the Nephites and traveled to distant lands. Whether those connections can ever be proven or not, I find it interesting that cultures across the Pacific often emphasize community, service, family, respect, and caring for the whole. Perhaps Zion begins the same way it always has—not through great institutions, but through ordinary people choosing to love their neighbors and leave the world a little better than they found it.
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If you'd like to read the article that inspired these thoughts, here it is:
Japanese fans once again stayed after their World Cup match to clean the stadium and leave it better than they found it. A simple act that became a lesson for the world.
Article:
Japan's litter-picking fans steal the show at the World Cup
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🌿 A Practical Blueprint for Zion
If this idea speaks to you, I have also written a simple study called The Blueprint of Zion.
It comes from principles I have found in the Nemenhah records and other witnesses of Christ-centered community. It is not about building another institution. It is about learning, step by step, how ordinary people can begin living more like Zion right where they are.
How do we care for one another?
How do we leave things better than we found them?
How do we become a people with no poor among us?
How do we build peace in our families, neighborhoods, and communities?
You can read it here:
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The Nemenhah Records in picture form:
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📚 About the Nemenhah Records
The Nemenhah Records (also called Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah: The Sacred Records of the Ancient Nemenhah) are a collection of writings centered on peace, healing, stewardship, consecration, sacred community, and the journey toward Zion-like living. The records include teachings about the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn, the Four Pillars, sacred ceremony, family stewardship, and the path of the Peacemaker.
For those interested in studying the records for themselves, printed editions and eBook versions can currently be found on Amazon by searching:
“Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah”
or
“The Sacred Records of the Ancient Nemenhah”
Amazon editions include:
Hardcover volumes
Combined editions
eBook editions
Some readers approach the records devotionally, others symbolically, and others simply as a source of thought-provoking spiritual ideas. As always, study thoughtfully, seek wisdom, and let the Spirit guide your understanding.
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