Zion is the great moment of transition

Chapter 1 of “Approaching Zion” by Hugh Nibley:

“Who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth?” (Malachi 3:2). Only those who have prepared for the new environmental change by adapting themselves to it through a rigorous course of training. …Zion is the great moment of transition, the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be. …Zion is any community in which the celestial order prevails. Zion is the ‘pure in heart’ (D&C 97:21), but Zion is also a real city or any number of cities. …We must be prepared to receive this glory. We must be ready, so that we don’t die of shock when we get it. …It must at all times be holy enough to receive the Lord himself in person. …Now let us prove to the heavens that our minds are set on beauty and true excellence, so that we can become worthy to enjoy the society of angels.”

“Saints start our building up Zion and end up building Babylon. Brigham Young said, ‘we have too much Babylon in our midst.’ It is hard for us to envisage the concept of Zion, let alone Paradise, when we have been so long accustomed to living in Babylon. … The world today is about as different from Zion as any world possibly can be. In fact, it has reached the point, the Lord has told us in emphatic terms, where he is about to remove the whole thing – sweep the slate clean, that Zion may be established. …There is an unbridgeable gap between Zion and Babylon. We cannot compromise on the two ways, because the two ways lead in opposite directions. When we try to mix Zion and Babylon, Babylon has already won the game.”