Quality vs. Quantity: The Material World

In a world that seems to be decaying from want of the new, a world that seems to be diseased by greed and the lust for materialism, for a world putrefying by falsehood where nothing seems to be real, bit by bit the substance of life is being dematerialized and systematized into a system of connectivity. This connectivity does not spare the individual whose own self is slowly seeped away as each has their own “reality show” on social media and one’s life has no privacy, no dignity and the value of its sanctity is minimized as it too is subsumed into a virtual world. 

It becomes incredibly difficult to measure quality vs. quantity in a world such as this. The world would like to think that the two are synonymous. The world would like to think that the latest phenomenon that cost the most money equals that of the greatest quality. Individuals who invest into “the beauty myth” spend untold dollars to fight signs of aging, body reconstruction, and countless amounts on excessive living only try to fit a mold that is itself a reconstruction. 

Materialism is an obsession in society and what is current and popular the masses will go to great lengths, even illegal, to attain that which will soon be obsolete. As Latter-Day Saints, we can see very clearly through this beauty myth, through the lust of materialism and excess, through the must-have technologies that society did very well without not long ago. We can ask ourselves, “What is the eternal value of this item?” “Will I expect to see this item in the eternities?” If the question has to be asked the answer is most assuredly no. 

We most certainly will not see televisions, cars, iPhones or iPads, computers, fads, trends and gluttonous living in the eternities, these items are measured in quantity and these things are of mortality and are worldly. When we consider how to best invest time, with loved ones, to attend the temple to seek truth, to develop our relationship with Heavenly Father through prayer, to utilize the ubiquitous power of the atonement in our lives, to gain spiritual and temporal knowledge, to develop a spirit of service, charity, honor, integrity, and develop our personal character through acts of righteousness, we Latter-Day saints with an eternal perspective can clearly see these as principles not of quantity but of quality and this quality is eternal. 

There are infinite choices to be made on a momentary to momentary basis and if we decide to make choices bearing in mind the quality of the choice that is everlasting for ourselves and our loved ones opposed to the quantity of the choice, for the faithful Latter-Day Saint, it is clear that the latter, like everything else about the world, is temporary, fleeting, and an illusion to lead us from the path of righteousness, the true one which will lead us back to Heavenly Father.