"Written in the many languages of the world are all sorts of messages that completely escape us because we don't speak those particular languages" (H. Eyring)
The same can be said for the messages God has for us -- written in a spiritual language that we will miss unless we become sensitive to the Spirit. These messages are present in the scriptures, our interactions with each other, AND all throughout the physical world. Other than an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of the world, I think the physical world gets overlooked as a source of spiritual understanding because we don't think to allow the Spirit into secular learning (science). But "The gospel is the truth. All truth is part of the gospel regardless of how the truth has been learned" or in other words, anything that we learn anywhere that is true is learning from God (H. Eyring). D&C 93:24 - And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
This is a big deal because it means we can apply the same process we use for understanding "religious" truth to science, and it all can work to expand our understanding of God. Learning a true thing about, for example, the natural world, offers insight into the nature of God -- one of the many ways that He set up to communicate with us on a DAILY basis. "communications are essential to our functioning in the world and to our relationship with its Creator" but not just what we typically think of "communications" (prayer, scriptures, etc. those these are MARVELOUS communications) because "the Creator of the universe has implanted a message in every created thing. Geology, astronomy, physics -- all science is really nothing more than an effort to read those messages" (H. Eyring). All science is, after all, an effort to understand the truth about the world and therefor is an effort to understand ourselves and God. We must learn to be sensitive to the spirit in all types of learning because there is communication from our loving Heavenly Father to us in all things. I think this is true of all types of science; understanding the way photosynthesis works, complex mathematical physics, the effect of music on the brain, and the phycological power of the written word.
"Communication of information involves both a sender and a receiver. The gospel flows from the Creator of the world who sees the end from the beginning. It flows to all who are able to receive it." (H. Eyring) D&C 88:6-13 -- He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As 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 stand. And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.
God is in the sun and its power, the moon and stars, and our own very physiological and phycological selves. He speaks to us through the power of these things and their make up. Everything that "fills the immensity of space" is of Him and He is "in the midst" -- and messages to us from the God of the Universe are written into it all if we learn to understand the "language."
i like this. this is why things like going into nature can be spiritual in a way. we perceive all of these grand creations of God that give us an added and often forgotten sense of context in our lives - the context that we are not as great as we make ourselves out to be. it reminds us of our place in the world as humble creatures, susceptible and vulnerable to the natural world because we are so small and insignificant and rely wholly on god's grace from day to day. we don't belong in this world, it is too harsh and foreign for us. we are only here for a moment, surviving because God has placed us here for a reason and grants us life each day. only going outside our tamed environment of air conditioning and cars and running water will remind us of that.
ReplyDeletei think it can also remind us of the highly intelligent and complex nature of the word around us. everything working and progressing in an organized and sustainable way...i mean, encoded in the dna of our cells are the instructions for making another human life! we don't have hardly anything to do with it, and yet it is so well designed that it is a nearly perfect system!
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