Oil Pulling

This post is going to feel very “secular” compared to what I usually post, but I had the thought to share this information here. It has helped my family and friends in the past and, hopefully, it helps others beyond my immediate circle of influence.

Oil pulling is the practice of swishing about a half tablespoon of high-quality oil in your mouth for 15-20 minutes every day. You can find information about it on the internet in many places. It is purported to have many health benefits, including removing impurities from the blood across the highly vascular tissues under the tongue. I can’t speak to all of the claims of benefit for the practice, but I can tell you of some of the benefits that I and others I know personally have experienced. 

First, oil pulling can drain an abscess in an emergency.

Wait, is this where I have to tell you that I am not a medical expert and that I am not giving medical advice? OK. I’m not a medical expert and I am not giving medical advice. There. Done. 

I don’t know why, but dental emergencies have this way of happening after normal business hours. Very inconvenient. There have been about a half a dozen times I have told someone I know about oil pulling when they developed an abscess and couldn’t have it immediately treated by a dentist. Even when you can make it in to see a dentist, most dentists won’t treat an abscess until you’ve finished a round of antibiotics and the infection subsides. In my experience, oil pulling has helped drain abscesses by creating negative pressure within the abscess, moving the infection through the gum tissue to drain. The abscess can look worse before it gets better as the infection localizes before it drains, but it does eventually drain and that drainage brings with it a lot of pain relief.

Secondly, oil pulling removes tartar. Not immediately, of course, but oil pulling does free tartar from the teeth. This was something that I experienced first hand. I had some tartar on the back of my lower incisors and, after several weeks of oil pulling, the tartar came off while I was swishing. Someone else also reported to me that, after oil pulling for a while, he went in for a dental cleaning and the hygienist commented on how easily the tartar lifted off of his teeth. I would bet that the tartar would have come off on its own given just a little more time. Sure beats having the dentist scrape your teeth with a metal hook!

Lastly, oil pulling removes stains. People I know who have oil pulled long term report that their teeth look whiter. Personally, I had some stains on my molars completely disappear. They were stains left from the braces on my molars. Because they were in between my teeth, they were stains that dental cleanings had not been able to remove.

People ask me what kind of oil to use. I like sesame oil, but I’m half-Korean, so I don’t mind sesame oil so much. Some people can’t handle the taste of straight sesame oil and choose to use coconut, olive, or sunflower oil. Whatever oil suits you best, it should be as pure, unrefined, and unheated as possible.

People also ask me how I find 15-20 minutes in my day to do this regularly and I will admit that it was difficult at first. My poor kids got really good at charades. The best time I have found to do this is when I’m getting ready for the day. If I start my bathroom/shower/dressing routine by putting some oil in my mouth, I’ll finish getting ready with just a little bit of swishing left. If my kids have to play charades, it’s only for a few minutes.

There aren’t many drawbacks to oil pulling. It’s definitely one of those things that doesn’t hurt to try and you might even discover benefits not listed here. Hope this helps. 

Insights From My Study of King Benjamin and Other Life Experiences

I intended to post a “Part III” to my “What Righteous Political Leaders Should Look Like” series, but I don’t think that I will, at least not for a while. There are reasons for this that I will not enumerate here, but I will say that a continued study of Mosiah 2 is a very revealing exercise. Actually, a study of King Benjamin’s entire address can help us better understand what it takes to be a righteous leader and can help us better identify individuals who truly are righteous leaders. 

For now, I would simply like to share some overarching principles that the Lord taught me this morning, hoping that it will benefit others to the same or better degree than they helped me today.

When he delivers his address, King Benjamin is old and approaching death. He states, specifically, that one of the reasons why he called his people to gather is because of the fact that he knew he would soon die. He was told to deliver a message. He had a duty to perform before he died and his frailty in his old age wasn’t going to deter him from doing that.

Mortality is a funny thing. One reason why I think it is necessary for us to experience mortality is that it makes obvious to us the fact that there are things that last and things that don’t. Mortality forces you to confront the fact that your time here is limited, and so discovering what is of most value becomes a race against the clock. This world would have you believe that experiences, in and of themselves, are the things that should be sought. You only live once, right? Well, actually, no. There is more to our existence than what we experience in this life. This life’s experiences are meant to give you what will help you the most outside of mortality. They are meant to help you acquire truth and, in the end, both the acquisition of truth and the transmission of that truth to others are really the only worthwhile and lasting endeavors you can engage in while you are still here. 

Aging (and other illnesses and physical weaknesses) can make your mortality very real and very present, but the truth is that our lives right now are every bit as frail as what King Benjamin’s was when he delivered his final address. We need not wait for our years to advance to learn this and we absolutely shouldn’t. I believe this is why King Benjamin stresses the fact that God lends us breath daily. Our existence in this mortal sphere is both temporary and tenuous, and most of us don’t engage that reality until it gets right up into our face.

And so, what are we doing with that breath that God lends to us? King Benjamin says that we would be unprofitable servants even if we spent our whole lives in his service, but does that mean that we shouldn’t spend our lives in his service? What does being in his service look like? His work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He does this by imparting knowledge to us and we engage in his work as we acquire and incorporate more of his knowledge and then help others do the same.

None of life’s experiences are as important as the truth that is being communicated to you through those experiences. Situations change, but the truths that you can gain from passing through those situations stay with you, and, if you teach those truths to others, they can be of benefit to those who would pass through similar situations.

We try so hard to hold on to situations that we think will give us the most benefit—employment, health, reputation, relationships with family and friends—not realizing that these things, because of their existence in this world, are temporary. They are meant to teach us about things that are not temporary, but, in our attempts to hold on to the situations themselves, we blind ourselves to the truths they are trying to teach us and we suffer unnecessarily from our lack of truth.

Being able to let go of the situations in mortality and being able to focus on the acquisition and dissemination of truth is what enables a person to have inner peace. Your life becomes an investment in things that cannot be taken away from you. Truth becomes a part of you. You incorporate it.

I love that word—incorporate. I’ll just take a moment here to suggest some deep pondering of a few definitions of that word:

To unite; to blend; to work into another mass or body;

To embody; to give a material form to.

To form into a legal body, or body politic; to constitute a body, composed of one or more individuals, with the quality of perpetual existence or succession, unless limited by the act of incorporation;

To unite so as to make a part of another body; to be mixed or blended; to grow into, &c.

How cool is that?!?!  You know, I’m really not a “touch/feel love language” kind of a person, but there are times when I just want to give certain people a hug and thank them for how they have helped me understand things and Noah Webster is on my list of people to thank someday.

It works just like the sacrament. If you read the accounts of Christ administering the sacrament, the most important part of the sacrament is not anything that has to do with the immediate situation of the ordinance itself —the officiator, the prayer, the bread, the wine. What is important is the symbolism that what the bread represents is truth and that the truth is consumed by us and broken down into its simplest forms to be taken up again and reconstituted into what makes us what is outwardly manifested to people. How beautiful is that?!?!

I feel like this post has jumped around all over the place, but I hope that someone can pick up on my continuity of thought somehow and feel as much happiness and love as what I have this morning. These thoughts have been a salve to my soul.

Don’t hold on to situations. Hold on to truth. Hold on to God, as he is the source of all truth. 

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6)

What Righteous Political Leaders Should Look Like—A Study of King Benjamin-Part II

Our current wicked society is easily swayed to believe the idea that a political leader’s immoral private life has no bearing on his ability to righteously fulfill his public office—a projection of what they believe about their own lives, unfortunately. But this notion will not stand up to reason in the mind of anyone who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wisdom, both in public and private endeavors, is an extension of truth.  Wisdom is the righteous application of truth. Any increase in an individual’s acquisition of truth is a function of their obedience to the truth they have already received and their diligence in obtaining more. A righteous society will seek out leaders who are wise and you can measure the righteousness of a society by the degree to which they do this. 

12. Righteous political leaders understand and teach the importance of the two great commandments—to love God and to love others. The latter is kept in actual service to others. The people must “labor to serve one another.” No one, not even the leader, is exempt from this command. In fact, the leader should set the example for others to follow in this regard.

18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?

13. Love of God is the natural result of a correct understanding of the nature of God, and his relationship to and dealings with man. Righteous political leaders cultivate the love of God in the hearts of their subjects by reminding them of the fact that every good thing comes from God. An acknowledgment of this fact leads to gratitude for all that God blesses us with. Not only does God lend us breath, but the laws that he gives to us are what enable us to enjoy the blessings of a peaceable society. It is our heavenly King who deserves thanks and praise and a righteous earthly king will encourage his subjects to direct their thanks and praise to God, and away from himself. This keeps the people in a constant, proper, and enduring state of humility.

19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

14. Righteous political leaders teach people that obedience to God results in blessings and prosperity. This promise is sure because God does not vary from what he says.

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

15. Righteous political leaders teach people that their indebtedness to God does not end with their obedience. Also, it is noteworthy that King Benjamin says that God “immediately” blesses us when we obey—a claim which some may find easily debatable. We should seek to understand exactly how this happens. 

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

16. King Benjamin uses his own frailty and old age to demonstrate the nothingness of man to his people. Righteous political leaders will see themselves as less than “the dust of the earth” and will teach the people to view themselves the same way.

25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

17. Righteous leaders hold the correct understanding that they will be held responsible for their influence on the people. The roles of “king” and “queen” inherently come with the ability to affect many outside a small inner circle of associates. The influence of kings and queens spreads far and wide and this fact is no small matter in the minds of those who desire to rule righteously. Righteous leaders will strive to be found blameless before God by being obedient to everything that God commands them. 

27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear conscience before God, even so I at this time have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me, when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you.

28 I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together that I might rid my garments of your blood, at this period of time when I am about to go down to my grave, that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God.

What Righteous Political Leaders Should Look Like—A Study of King Benjamin-Part I

What does a righteous political leader look like? When righteous political leaders in our day are so few and/or are so obscured from our immediate view, it is so nice to be able to turn to scripture and discover both what we lack in our current leadership and also what we should be searching for (and developing) in future leaders. From Mosiah, chapter 2:

1. Righteous leaders make sure that truth is taught to all of the people. 

1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.

2 And there were a great number, even so many that they did not number them; for they had multiplied exceedingly and waxed great in the land.

2. Contrary to current popular opinion or practice, a righteous leader leads people to keep God’s commandments by teaching them to see God’s hand in every aspect of their lives.

 3 And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses;

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

3. They recognize that families are the most basic unit of society and that righteous families lead to righteous societies.

5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;

4. As an extension of point #1, a righteous leader will go to great lengths to teach people truth, as living according to truth always results in a more prosperous society. 

7 For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.

8 And it came to pass that he began to speak to his people from the tower; and they could not all hear his words because of the greatness of the multitude; therefore he caused that the words which he spake should be written and sent forth among those that were not under the sound of his voice, that they might also receive his words.

5. Righteous leaders don’t take lightly the things that they say. They are completely aware of their responsibility to impart understanding to those who listen to them. They don’t just rule over their subjects. Righteous leaders teach their subjects how to become wise rulers over whatever stewardship they may have.

9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

6. Righteous leaders know that their governance has limits because of their own human condition. While they may hold a public office, that office can only be given by consent and does not eliminate the need for them to remain humble servants. Public service is the hallmark of public office. 

10 I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.

11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.

7. Righteous leaders do not seek for the things of this world. Gold, silver, or riches of any other kind are not a source of motivation for the service they render.

12 I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;

8. Righteous leaders limit their actions to what is righteous and just. In doing so, they become living examples of how the Lord would govern—teaching their subjects how to live by living righteous lives themselves.

13 Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you—

9. Righteous leaders do not abandon their own livelihoods to facilitate their public service. If leaders cease laboring with their own hands, the cost of the public office becomes a burden to the people. This is a characteristic of righteous leaders that is easily observable.

14 And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day.

10. Righteous leaders neither boast of themselves, nor accuse others. Righteous leaders conduct themselves in a manner that is above reproach, answering to God for their actions.

15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day.

11. Righteous leaders recognize that any service to the people is more correctly viewed when viewed as service to God. In this, there is not found a reason to boast.

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.