I loved Elder Holland's closing talk about how each speaker was inspired by the Lord to choose their own topic, and that not every talk will speak to every person but that there is a talk (or 2 or 10) that will speak to each of us!
I enjoyed several talks this time, but the image that keeps coming to mind for me is from Elder Bednar's talk about revelation. He said...
"I invite you to consider two experiences most of us have had with light.The first experience occurred as we entered a dark room and turned on a light switch. Remember how in an instant a bright flood of illumination filled the room and caused the darkness to disappear. What previously had been unseen and uncertain became clear and recognizable. This experience was characterized by immediate and intense recognition of light.
The second experience took place as we watched night turn into morning. Do you recall the slow and almost imperceptible increase in light on the horizon? In contrast to turning on a light in a dark room, the light from the rising sun did not immediately burst forth. Rather, gradually and steadily the intensity of the light increased, and the darkness of night was replaced by the radiance of morning. Eventually, the sun did dawn over the skyline. But the visual evidence of the sun’s impending arrival was apparent hours before the sun actually appeared over the horizon. This experience was characterized by subtle and gradual discernment of light.
From these two ordinary experiences with light, we can learn much about the spirit of revelation."After he said these things I realized that I think of revelation in a light-switch, instant illumination kind of way so I have always thought that I don't receive much revelation. But now I see that that kind of revelation is the exception for me while my norm is the so subtly gradual kind of illumination that I don't usually realize it's happening. Maybe this should have been obvious to me, but it wasn't until he described it this way (what can I say, metaphors work for me).
As I have been reading No Doubt About It (please tell me you're going to read it), I've been experiencing increased understanding about my life, what is important and why I am here. I have always been taught the answers to these questions, but recent life experiences (of mine and others) have changed my perspective such that upon reading the words in the book I feel like I finally get it and want to live it. This feels transformatively huge to me and worth going through the horrendous month of iron-related woes (though I definitely prefer this side of the experience).
**Thoughts??**
Comment Window Tidbit: Few things are a delicious as a pending Sunday Nap.
