\u201cThe Seeds of Political Violence Are Being Sown in Church: The new insurrection is being organized, in a sanctuary near you.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve hoped that American Latter-day Saints would outperform our Evangelical cousins in this matter (as in others).\u00a0 But have we?\u00a0 Sadly, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything begins with light.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the cosmic energy out of which everything else proceeds. \u00a0Matter follows, in second place.<\/p>\n
Amazingly, and in ways that run quite parallel to the principles of modern physics, the great world religions commonly describe light as the original power from which all else arises. \u00a0It is the source of everything.<\/p>\n
In the beginning\u00a0God created\u00a0the heavens\u00a0and the earth.\u00a0\u00a0Now the earth was formless\u00a0and empty,\u00a0darkness was over the surface of the deep,\u00a0and the Spirit of God\u00a0was hovering\u00a0over the waters. \u00a0And God said,\u00a0\u201cLet there be light,\u201d and there was light.\u00a0\u00a0God saw that the light was good,\u00a0and he separated the light from the darkness.\u201d \u00a0(Genesis 1:1-4, NIV)<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning was the Word,\u00a0and the Word was with God,\u00a0and the Word was God.\u00a0\u00a0He was with God in the beginning.\u00a0\u00a0Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. \u00a0In him was life,\u00a0and that life was the light\u00a0of all mankind.\u00a0\u00a0The light shines in the darkness,\u00a0and the darkness has not overcome\u00a0it.\u201d \u00a0(John 1:1-5, NIV)<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Ultimate Truth is declared as the illuminator of all that illuminates, beyond the darkness of ignorance, residing within everyone.\u201d \u00a0(Bhagavad Gita 13:18)<\/p>\n
\u201cGod is the light of the heavens and the earth. \u00a0The likeness\u00a0of his light\u00a0is as a niche wherein is a lamp; the lamp is in a crystal, and the crystal, shining as if a pearl-like star, lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree that is neither of the east nor of the west. \u00a0The oil would almost give light of itself though no fire touches it. \u00a0Light upon light! \u00a0God guides to His Light whom He wills.\u201d \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 24:35, my translation)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe that\u00a0ascended\u00a0up on high, as also he\u00a0descended below all things, in that he\u00a0comprehended\u00a0all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the\u00a0light\u00a0of truth; which truth shineth. This is the\u00a0light of Christ. As also he is in the\u00a0sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was\u00a0made. \u00a0As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you\u00a0stand. \u00a0And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your\u00a0understandings; which\u00a0light\u00a0proceedeth forth from the presence of God to\u00a0fill\u00a0the immensity of space\u2014the\u00a0light\u00a0which is in all things, which giveth\u00a0life\u00a0to all things, which is the\u00a0law\u00a0by which all things are governed, even the\u00a0power\u00a0of God who\u00a0sitteth\u00a0upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.\u201d \u00a0(Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-13)<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the true\u00a0light\u00a0that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.\u201d \u00a0(Doctrine and Covenants 93:2)<\/p>\n
Light is everywhere. \u00a0Even when we don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n
And, of course, in fact the human eye can see only a small portion of the light spectrum between short x-rays on one side and long radio waves on the other.<\/p>\n
And, even within the visible spectrum, we don\u2019t see light directly. \u00a0We only see it by means of its reflection from\u00a0objects. \u00a0Curiously, light itself cannot be seen. \u00a0Light is invisible.<\/p>\n
We see it, accordingly, only indirectly. \u00a0Every visible object sends light to our eyes, because light illuminates all such objects. \u00a0But light does not and cannot illuminate itself.<\/p>\n
Thus, billions of stars shine in the cosmos, but, because nothing in it reflects their light, space itself remains dark. \u00a0Yet it is filled with light.<\/p>\n
And this is good for us. \u00a0If light itself were visible, we would be lost in a kind of fog of light. \u00a0But the invisibility of light allows us to see the universe around us. \u00a0\u201cIt is,\u201d writes Lorenz Marti, \u201cpure selflessness [reine Selbstlosigkeit<\/i>]. \u00a0It makes everything visible, just not itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
For this and other reasons, light appears in many cultures as a holy and primordial Power that flows through the entire cosmos. \u00a0It is a symbol for the divine \u2014 present everywhere but fully grasped nowhere.<\/p>\n
In current physics, light appears to be both wave and particle, depending upon how it\u2019s examined. \u00a0What is it really? \u00a0Both. \u00a0And neither. \u00a0It\u2019s like<\/i> a wave. \u00a0It\u2019s like<\/i> a particle. \u00a0But we really don\u2019t know what it is.<\/p>\n
And yet, without light, there would be no life, and no world as we know it. \u00a0Everything visible is a reflection of the invisible light.<\/p>\n
Moreover, light contains all of the colors. \u00a0It makes our world vivid and colorful. \u00a0The leaf of a tree appears green because it reflects the green portion of the Sun\u2019s rays. \u00a0The sky appears to be blue because of the way the Sun\u2019s rays interact with atmospheric particles. \u201cAnd,\u201d observes Marti, \u201cthe rose is red because it\u2019s touched by light but doesn\u2019t withhold this light for itself. \u00a0Instead, it gives that light further, to the human eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLicht singt tausendfache Lieder,\u201d wrote Hermann Hesse (1877-1962). \u00a0\u201cLight sings songs by the\u00a0thousands.\u201d<\/p>\n
[The foregoing\u00a0was inspired by and, to a considerable degree, paraphrases\u00a0Lorenz Marti, Eine Hand voll Sternenstaub: Was das Universum \u00fcber das Gl\u00fcck des Daseins erz\u00e4hlt<\/i> (Freiburg: Herder, 2014), 53-55.]<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 *** \u00a0 Come, Follow Me \u2014 Old Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 9, February 21\u201327: Genesis 24\u201327 \u2014\u00a0\u201cThe Covenant Is Renewed\u201d Jonn Claybaugh has supplied another useful set of brief notes for families, students, and teachers in the Come, Follow Me program. \u00a0 Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 9 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27377,1809,27977,8031,13514,9108,295,27968,27971,27974,27965,21302,27380,2905,1812,2193,788,55,1667,10514,2583,9104,3358],"class_list":["post-94220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-6-january","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-come-follow-me","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-francis-collins","tag-genesis-24","tag-genesis-25","tag-genesis-26","tag-genesis-27","tag-insurrection","tag-january-6","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-light","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-name","tag-names","tag-pandemic","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n
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