From the mouths of babes! “And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Matthew 21:16) In Sacrament meeting, a young missionary (19 years old) spoke with the maturity of an angel. I’m going to elaborate on one of the things that he said that sparked a thought in my own spiritual mind. It has always been interesting to me to see how synergistic we are. What one person says or does often sparks an idea or an interest in another. It so happens that this young missionary had only been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint for a year and a half, and yet he was more spiritually mature than many of us long-time members. What he said that sparked an interest in me was a quote from the Old Testament, a quote that I had read hundreds of times but had never before read it in the way that he suggested. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) He added that it was probably not only the point at which he formed the sun and the moon (at least placed them in their current relationship to the earth)[me], but, he suggested that it may also have been the point at which the Light of Christ was appointed to fill the earth and every spirit that would ever be sent to it. “Let there be light!” I was impressed with that thought. As we have all been blessed with the light of Christ as we come into the world.
All things are symbolic of the Savior. Is not the Sun, that great star that has been set in the heavens to provide light to the earth, is that not symbolic of the Son (of God), who was also sent to provide His light (spiritual light) to the earth and to all who dwell thereon?
Many years ago, I read a story about a professor who was asked a question, in jest, by one of his students. Even though the question was asked in jest, his answer was based on his very serious perspective of it. The story, is related below (as I remember it).
The question was, “What is life?” The professor had been a young child in war-torn Germany near the end of World War II. He was playing near the spot where a German motorcycle had recently crashed, and he found a piece of glass from its rear view mirror. He said he enjoyed playing with the piece of mirror and would reflect the light from the sun into dark crevices and places the sun could not reach. Over the years, he shaped the piece of mirror by rubbing it on a rough stone until it became round. It ended up being the size of a small coin. As an old man he still carried that small mirror around in his wallet and he took it out to show it to his students. He said that he carried it as a reminder of the very important aspect of life that he came to understand from it. He became a Christian as an adult, and as a Christian student, he learned about, and reflected upon, the light of Christ. He was reminded how he, as a child, reflected light from his little piece of mirror into dark places. He likened the mirror to himself. He said, as a Christian, he felt that his life should reflect as much of His light, as he could, into places that are dark or that have been darkened by ignorance or evil.
As Christians, we have been asked by the Savior to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) The more we learn and know about the Savior, the more light we ourselves have to reflect. I somehow feel that the Savior was not just asking us to let our light so shine, but rather, that the biblical statement is a commandment. Our own light becomes brighter as we both reflect it and as we reflect upon it. May we be so blessed as to be as mirrors that have the capability to reflect light into places that are not easily reached by any other source of light.
I remember a few years ago, I wrote an article on shadows. It was a time when we still had our sweet little dog named Koko whom I got to walk every morning. In the wintertime, it was still dark at 5:00 A.M. when I walked her. We would walk by street lamps, and as we drew near to them, my shadow was more well-defined, but as I walked past the light and further away from it, my shadow became less and less well defined until one could not make out my shape at all. That light defined me as does the light of Christ. We will always be defined as Christians as long as we remain close to the Savior and His light, the Gospel light, the light of truth. But when we allow ourselves to be drawn away from it, we are unable to be defined as Christians because our behavior will change and it will define us as something different from Christlike. Thankfully, we have the principle of repentance, which means essentially to turn back or turn away from our transgressions. May we always have the strength and the courage to remain in the light and that we will let that light define us.