that ye have seen me....

The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.                 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
This past Sunday I was reminded by one of the speakers at church that President Uchtdorf used this analogy. To understand this a little better I would like to add John 14:22-23 which says

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

I believe this is the gift of those that truly seek him. Now lets add D & C 88:49-50

49 The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him.

 50 Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me; otherwise ye could not abound.

So most of us are looking for the day that he will come and the reality is that in some peoples lives he has already and if we are in tune with the spirit and know what we are looking for we will find him.

One Sunday after the sacrament a priest age young man walked down from the sacrament table and sat next to his dad. His father put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him towards him. The both looked at each other and smiled. The Spirit instantly bore witness to me that I had just witness the love that the Father has for the Son.

I have come to understand that this is how we come to know God. Through our own experiences, particularly as parents. We cant know what its like to be a father unless we are one and take our roles seriously. As we faithful fill our roles and live the gospel, we become like him. We should recognize this in our lives and in the lives of others.

So looking back I can say that I have know many people who through their diligent have illustrated the powerful attributes that are Christ. I feel very blessed and humble to know so many. I strive each day to be more like them so that I may stand in his presents.

The Young Ruler

I have always loved this painting. It is beautiful and elegant. Its impossible not to recognize the story and in one view to understand the dilemma that the young man finds himself in.Both figures are imposing and dominate the frame. Christ arms show great compassion and tenderness towards the poor. How could he resist the plea for assistance.

We have two of these painting in our chapel. One in each foyer. On a couple of occasion I have had the opportunity to sit in the foyer and study the painting.  I have wondered what would have happened if the young ruler followed the Savior and sold everything and gave it to the poor. I have wondered what the young man would do now with nothing to sustain himself or the poor for that matter. He would have had to live entirely by faith and wait on the Lord for his daily needs. I would image there would be great blessing for making that commitment.

I've wondered why the Lord didn't ask him to use his fortune to sustain the poor. There are many able men who use their wealth in very charitable ways that in reality benefit people for generations. Why wasn't he asked to do that. The young ruler could still live in comfort and provide through out his life for the poor. Wouldn't that be worthy too?

I have wondered why the artist used an elderly naked man and a women to represent the poor. The scriptures indicate that he was to give to the poor. I have thought that they were an adequate representation of the poor. But of late I have decided that the artist was inspired to compose such an image as it gives further light into an alternative meaning of this painting.

To tell you the truth, I have struggle to relate to this parable. I am not wealthy to the point that I feel compelled to give away my substance and I am not as poor as those depicted in the painting. So I have never thought that Christ was speaking to me.

Until one day I realized that there was a second lesson to learn from this painting and it would be one that could only be taught to those who have prophets as leaders and additional scriptures as guides.

So you need two keys to change the meaning. I believe that the young ruler is the natural man.  The woman represents the church. So now he is speaking to us. We all have physical bodies and are subject to the desires of the flesh which are described as the "Natural Man". We have all been blessed to come to mortality have physical bodies, experience the lessons of life and if we make the right choices and live worthily we become joint heirs with Christ and inherit all that the Father has. I don't think we are being asked to give everything to the poor but we are asked to sacrifice and consecrate all that we have to the poor (the Church). So this whole parable is more about the Law of Consecration. We don't give it away but we use it to build the kingdom.

The naked man represent the process we begin when we strip ourselves of the concerns of the world and humble ourselves before the church. The church then uses all that it poses to dress and care for the individual until such time that the individual can make the same commitments and participate in the work of the church.

So now we are faced with the same dilemma. Do we follow after the world and enjoy our riches or do we decide to use them to build the church and kingdom on earth. If we choose the later the blessing of eternity are ours.