The Light of the Sun
In his recent talk in general conference, President Uchtdorf spoke about those women who were witnesses of the Savior’s resurrection at the empty tomb. He then encouraged us in these words, “Like Mary and those with her that morning, even when things seem dark, we step forward in faith, with courage and humility, and walk toward the Savior’s light. As we do so, eventually the dawn of understanding will surely reward our faith. Like the warmth and light of the morning sun, we will feel the love and healing of the Son of God. Darkness will give way to eternal light.” He continued with this invitation, “My dear brothers and sisters, each morning let the daily rising sun remind us that Jesus Christ is the light that leads us through this life, through any valley of sorrow, over beautiful mountains of joy, and across any ocean of uncertainty or temptation, safely back to our loving and merciful Father in Heaven.” His comments make me wonder if the Savior didn’t appear to Mary in the light of dawn, right as the sun was beginning to rise. We know that on that morning she went “early, when it was yet dark.” Seeing the empty tomb, she ran to tell Peter who ran back to see the sepulchre. After that, Mary stayed there weeping, and that is when she saw Jesus appear to her. So, it seems reasonable to suspect that this moment was right around the rising of the sun. If that is the case, that would certainly be symbolic in that His rising from the dead was like the rising of new day for all humanity as death had been overcome. And given President Uchtdorf’s invitation, we should think on Him at the lighting of the day and remember that it was most likely in the morning light when He first appeared to Mary.
The setting sun is also a powerful
image to remind us of the Savior. In L’Aventure
Ambiguë by Cheikh Hamidou Kane, at one point a wise man of faith (and
native to the African country where the story takes place) had a conversation
with a skeptical white school teacher as they watched a powerful sunset. As
they viewed together the horizon light up with the changing light in what
almost seemed to be an explosion, the man of faith posed this question to the
other: “Vous ne croyez pas vraiment dans la fin du monde?” (You really don’t
believe in the end of the world?) The
answer of this western man was simply, “Non, évidemment. Le monde n’aura pas de
fin” (No, clearly. The world will not have an end). Part of the motivation for the question was
that as they watched the sun go down, the brilliant display in the sky nearly
looked as if the world indeed was ending.
It is as if each sunset is in fact a type of how the world will really
end someday. The man of faith believed fervently in the end of the
world—analogous to believing in God—with the sunset being a powerful reminder. I
think of this question often as I see the sunset, and to us it should be an
indication that yes the world will end as the Savior will come
again. The setting of the sun and the transformation of the world into darkness
should remind us that the Son of God will return again one day. Just as there
is an end to every day without fail, there will be an end to the world: “And
the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass
away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth” (Doctrine and Covenants
29:23). So, the beautiful setting sun when indeed it seems as if it might be
exploding, should remind us that the Savior will come again and the world as we
know it will pass away.
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