Through the Mist of Darkness

In the vision of the tree of life there are two journeys to the tree that are described.  The first is that of Lehi’s.  Lehi recounted “I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me. And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.”  But as Lehi followed this man he experienced some difficulties: “As I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste. And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me.”  Interestingly, he was somehow able to follow the man while at the same time being in darkness such that he didn’t know where he was.  He had enough light to know how to follow the heavenly messenger, but he still felt alone and unsure of where he was headed.  Finally, though, he reached the tree: “After I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field. And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof” (1 Nephi 8:5-10).  He persevered through the darkness to reach the heavenly destination. 

                Later in his vision Lehi described a second journey to the tree, this one involving the rod of iron instead of a heavenly being.  He recounted, “And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost. And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree” (1 Nephi 8:23-24).  This journey too was to the tree, and again it involved passing through darkness to be able to arrive at the fruit.  Lehi had the heavenly messenger to follow, and these people had the rod of iron—the word of God—to guide them.  But both Lehi and these travelers had to pass through darkness; they had to “press forward through the mist of darkness” and travel for “hours in darkness” even while at the same time being guided.  I think this highlights a key point about faith and our mortal journey: though we will always have guides to lead us in the right direction—prophets, scriptures, prayer, and the Holy Ghost to name a few—we will still have times where we feel we are moving into the darkness and cannot see the way through to the tree. 

            President Packer once shared an experience that has been repeated often and which I believe highlights this principle.  He recounted, “Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do. I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you.’ Then he quoted these 18 words from the Book of Mormon: ‘Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.’”  Though we may have guidance from a sure source, it will still take faith to move forward in following it.  The vision of the tree of life teaches us that though there will always be darkness that clouds our ability to see as far as we want into the future, if we hold fast to the Lord’s messengers and to His words, we will reach the fruit that is “desirable above all other fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12).