Physically prepared/Spiritually prepared

[Connie]

Just a question that popped into my head.

Does physical preparation avail any benefit without spiritual preparation?

This is something i think i'll do a little study on but i thought i'd throw it out there to see if anyone else had some ideas to share.

[Wingnut]

Depends on what you're preparing for.

[TheAngelPalmoni]

ya you'll physically live a little longer...

[Justice]

First thing that comes to mind is the preparation that the peoples in the scriptures made before they entered ships.

Noah

Jaredites

Lehi's family

There are some interesting studies on their preparations, and some things are similar. If you look close enough you see both physical and spiritual preparations. Check it out, and if you come up with anything I'll see if what you find is similar to what I'm thinking.

[Connie]

I guess what i'm wondering is whether there is a correlation between the two. Are they two completely separate and distinct ideas or do they go hand in hand?

Thank you, Justice, that will be a good place for me to start. I will probably also check just exactly what the brethren say we should spiritually prepare for (thanks Wingnut). I was thinking along the lines of preparation for future trials, both physically (such as food storage, provident living, no debt, etc.) and spiritually. But maybe i'm off. Thanks again, Justice.

[Wingnut]

I realize I may have come off sounding snarky, though it wasn't my intent. My thought process was this:

What are you preparing for? A flood? A hurricane? An earthquake? Some other kind of natural disaster because of where you live? Personally, I think it's more important to be physically prepared for those things.

Are you preparing for the rest of your life? For the Second Coming? For major milestones or changes in life? For the eternities? Physical preparation still plays a role, but takes a back seat to spiritual preparation.

[applepansy]

I guess what i'm wondering is whether there is a correlation between the two. Are they two completely separate and distinct ideas or do they go hand in hand?

Thank you, Justice, that will be a good place for me to start. I will probably also check just exactly what the brethren say we should spiritually prepare for (thanks Wingnut). I was thinking along the lines of preparation for future trials, both physically (such as food storage, provident living, no debt, etc.) and spiritually. But maybe i'm off. Thanks again, Justice.

There is definitely a correlation between spiritual and physical preparation. As I was reading this to my husband he brought up the following analogy:

When he was a kid playing football, both teams would pray to the same God for a good game. That was spiritual preparation. But the team that usually won was the one that had prepared physically...practice, strength training, etc.

Another analogy:

David and Goliath. David could not be physically prepared enough to defeat Goliath. Their sizes were too different. Yet he defeated him because of his spiritual preparation. God made up the difference.

I like the examples Justice gave... Noah, the Jaradites, Lehi's family.

How does this apply today? We prepare physically and spiritually for all eventualities. There are conference talks about this. If I get some time I'll try to look for them.

I don't believe we by ourselves can truly be prepared for the physical calamaties of this life. But when we are spiritually prepared, then we are given the inspiration that makes our physical preparations stretch to fit the problem/disaster.

applepansy

[Connie]

LDS.org - Liahona Article - Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady