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Monday, March 5, 2012

Seeing Christ -- Part 1

One of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced is seeing my Lord and Savior in my mind's eye, doing what He does best: healing lives and making all things new again.

I learned many years ago, quite by accident, how I could see Jesus Christ through the eye of faith.

By the end of this series of posts, you will, too.

First, what is the eye of faith?

In Ether 12:5, Moroni teaches:
"And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they saw them not."
They would not believe his words because they could not see the things he was prophesying.

In verses 18 and 19, Moroni goes on to say:
"And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore, they first believed in the Son of God. And there were many whose faith was so exceeding strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad."
Interesting verbiage here.  To me, these people strongly hoped for something they had never seen (Hebrews 11:1).  This belief "in the Son of God" was so strong, that they first beheld Him with an eye of faith (their spiritual eyes).  This faith evolved to where they were able to pierce the veil, and behold the Son of God with their physical eyes.

First spiritual, then physical.

Is there a precedent for such a sequence?  Absolutely.  Go mark up Moses 3:5:
"For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth."  
(Note I said "mark", not look.  The implications of Moses 3:5 surpass the contents of perhaps 10 blog posts).

How can we spiritually create seeing the Son of God?

In the September 1974 Ensign, author Stephen Covey described a terrific way we could spiritually create things while nourishing the word of God.  The technique is based on one word: Visualizing.
"This means to see in your mind’s eye the characters and events portrayed in the scriptures. Such an empathetic effort will help you understand the situation that produced the teaching. Then you can relate that situation to yours and distill the universal principle that may apply in both.

When you visualize, you’re exercising faith. Visualizing is a powerful mental process, one of man’s unique endowments. Most of us neglect this power. Realize it or not, control it or not, the spiritual creation precedes the physical creation in all things. Most of life’s battles are lost in this private phase."
Later, in his book "The Divine Center," Covey went on to say that "I believe that most of us horribly neglect this creative power within us. We live too much out of our memories, too little out of our imaginations. Realize it or not, control it or not, the spiritual (mental) creation precedes the physical creation in all things. Always begin with the end in mind. Most of life’s battles are really lost in private, not in public."

Alma (who was also a pretty big fan of the eye of faith) said:
"And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life." (Alma 32:37-40)
Hmmmm, cool. Looks like we have a hint: if you will nourish the word, and look forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, you can pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.  And like Lehi and Nephi, you will be glad.

In my next blog post, we'll describe a possible scenario where you can try this principle out for yourself.

6 comments:

  1. This is a great blog! It also backs up the scripture, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Our minds are very powerful such that what we spend our time thinking about brings to pass events in our lives. To change our lives, we need to change our thoughts. If we truly liken the scriptures to ourselves, then we should be visualizing everything that happens as if we are an eye witness. Can't wait to read the next one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like books, etc where we are taught a principle that we can adopt for ourselves. Thanks.

    I read about such a concept in a book by Frederick W. Babbel called To Him That Believeth. Among his examples was one when he was in an airport and was having trouble getting a seat. So he sat down in the gate area and saw a scene over and over where the agent called him over and issued him a seat. He even heard her say the words she would use over and over. Sure enough - she said those very words and he got his seat.

    I've been thinking of trying such. Thanks for the encouragement.

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  3. I've really enjoyed your blog now on multiple occasions.

    I have found that utilizing the eye of faith referred to is one of the most powerful ways to help turn the theory and concepts of the gospel to actual practice. I use this when teaching my children or others the gospel principles to help them utilize their own eye of faith to really experience the gospel. I've done the same for myself to help me maintain a higher vision of this life or to make something more personal. For instance, if I can imagine me living my life as though my loving and interested Father in Heaven is just observing me from behind and that He is ready to help or let me do it on my own at my own discretion, that imagery allows me to keep a more permanent remembrance of Him and my Savior as well as letting ALL of my doings, goings and thoughts be unto the Lord.

    Thanks for taking the time to organize and share your thoughts with me. It leads me to Christ and His Words.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've really enjoyed your blog now on multiple occasions.

    I have found that utilizing the eye of faith referred to is one of the most powerful ways to help turn the theory and concepts of the gospel to actual practice. I use this when teaching my children or others the gospel principles to help them utilize their own eye of faith to really experience the gospel. I've done the same for myself to help me maintain a higher vision of this life or to make something more personal. For instance, if I can imagine me living my life as though my loving and interested Father in Heaven is just observing me from behind and that He is ready to help or let me do it on my own at my own discretion, that imagery allows me to keep a more permanent remembrance of Him and my Savior as well as letting ALL of my doings, goings and thoughts be unto the Lord.

    Thanks for taking the time to organize and share your thoughts with me. It leads me to Christ and His Words.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Does this mean that spiritual creation and mental visualization are one and the same?

    I was under the impression there was more to spiritual creation, as in the creation of a spirit body. When God created us spiritually, an actual entity appeared, known as our spirit, before a physical entity existed. Or have I misunderstood something?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Re: The creation of spirit bodies: I see nothing definitively revealed or canonized on that subject, so I'm really not comfortable commenting on that.
      Re: "Spiritual creation and mental visualization are one and the same": Stay tuned...

      Delete