A few weeks ago I was
in a parking lot grungy with month-old road snow and air so thick
with smog that even healthy people were advised to stay indoors. Of
course, that’s impossible with the need to do things like go to
work or acquire food and toilet paper.
As I trudged through on
my errand, I realized the air was sparkling. Tiny drifting crystals
had condensed in the pollution-based fog and reflected the light of a
scarcely seen sun. Suddenly, my mood changed from a stoic focus
on the task to a sense of awe and beauty.
Why did that happen?
Why did the crystals
form, why did I find them beautiful, why did the beauty inspire awe
and joy? Why did the awe and joy lead to contemplation of God? (Dear
and exasperated friends have sometimes asked me why I am even asking
these questions.)
There are good
mechanical explanations. The scientists will tell you about physical
and chemical processes. The spiritual will tell you it was a miracle.
They’re both right.
And
behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created
and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and
things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above,
and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth,
and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all
things bear record of me. (Moses 6:63)
Notice the repetition
and emphasis on everything. It doesn’t matter where or what it
is. Moses probably didn’t know about black holes or
neurochemicals or electrons, but I get the sense that this verse
covers those things. Because the world was created through God’s
command it can’t help but to reveal God and all of God’s
will. The universe is at its core a True Thing.
This is why even those
who are unbelievers love beauty and goodness. It’s why the same
laws and ethics appear in religions and cultures related only by the
fact that their adherents are human and live on this planet. It is
also why even the wicked create things of beauty and spiritual
illumination. They cannot escape reality.
The scientific method
works because of this. If we study nature with integrity, we can come
to know what we as individuals and communities need to thrive. And
surprise, surprise — we’ll find out that the prophets
have been teaching us those principles since the dawn of history.
Jesus was fond of
saying “Who hath ears to hear, let them hear.” (Matthew
11:15; Matthew 13:9, 43; Mark 4:23; Mark 7:16.) I wonder how many
other times he said that phrase. The closer we are to truth, the
easier it is for us to see it in everything around us.
The sparkling of the
tiny ice crystals in the air that day gave me a moment of sweetness
and light. By itself, that was a good thing. But if I wanted, I could
learn more from the experience. Those crystals seen in that
bleak parking lot were like the sparks of joy and beauty that fill
our lives in the midst of trials. Look for the good and resolve to be
sparks of joy in others’ lives.
You might see another
metaphor in the experience because you are different than I am. And
you’ve had your own experiences where the Spirit, expectedly or
not, taught you or reminded you of gospel principles through ordinary
occurrences, if anything can be thought of as ordinary.
It’s one of the
reasons bearing testimony to each other and writing in journals is so
important. We’re never in the same location in space or time or
attitude. We have a lot to teach each other.
When we pray for
understanding and have made ourselves open to it, the Spirit can use
anything around us as a teaching moment. The world is encoded with
them. It’s up to us to seek after those things.
Ami Chopine started out her mortal existence as a single cell. That cell divided into a collection
of cells that cooperated enough to do such things as eat, crawl, walk and eventually read a lot
and do grownuppy things.
When she was seven years old, hanging upside down on the monkey bars, she decided she
wanted to be a scientist when she grew up. Even though she studied molecular biology at the
University of Utah, that didn't quite come to pass. She became a writer instead. Still, her passion
for science and honest inquiry has remained and married itself to her love of the Gospel.
Ami is married to Vladimir and together they have four amazing children -- three in college and
one in elementary school, where Ami is president of the Family School Organization. Vladimir
is the better cook, but Ami is the better baker. She also knits, gardens, stares at clouds, and sings.
She can only do three of these at the same time.
Besides two published computer graphics books and several magazine tutorials, she writes
science fiction and has a couple of short stories published. You can find her blog at
www.amichopine.com.
Ami was surprised to not be given a calling as some kind of teacher the last time she was called
into the bishop's office. She currently serves as the Young Women Secretary -- somewhat
challenging for the girl whose grandmother used to call the absentminded professor.
