Clarify, Focus, and Ground the World

To my daughter, 

                Sister Tracy Y. Browning said this in the most recent general conference: “I’ve had poor eyesight for as long as I can remember and have always needed the aid of prescription lenses to correct my vision. When I open my eyes every morning, the world appears very disorienting. Everything is out of focus, grainy, and distorted. Even my dear husband is more reminiscent of an abstract portrait than the well-loved and comforting figure he really is! My reflexive need, before I do anything else at the start of my day, is to reach for my glasses to help me make sense of my surroundings and enjoy a more vibrant experience as they help me navigate throughout my day.” She elaborated on what this has taught her: “Over the years, I’ve come to recognize that this behavior illustrates my daily dependence on two things: first, a tool that helps me to clarify, focus, and ground the world around me; and second, a need for tangible guidance to continually point me in the right direction.” I can relate to her because of my terrible eyesight as well—putting on my glasses is indeed the first thing I do in the morning. No one has to remind me to do this for I know that I depend on them to see the world clearly.

Today I want to encourage you to develop two daily spiritual habits that help you “clarify, focus, and ground the world around [you].” Of course you can guess what these are: sincere prayer and scripture study. These can become pillars of strength to you in your life as you make them habits just as important as putting on glasses is for Sister Browning. Nephi wrote us about these two essential spiritual activities in 2 Nephi 32 near the end of his words in the Book of Mormon. He wrote, “Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (v3). The words of Christ are found in the scriptures, and I hope that you can learn to love those words just as much you love to physically feast on a good meal. And just as you would never go a whole day and forget to eat, you should never let a day pass that you don’t spend time reading the words of the scriptures. They provide nourishment to your soul just as important as physical food is to your body. I love an image we get from the prophet Ezekiel who was given “a roll of a book” that had the words of the Lord written on it. He recorded what the Lord told him to do: “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezekiel 2:9-10, 3:1-3). This is a powerful metaphor about what we should do with the scriptures, and as we truly feast upon them they will be to us like honey for sweetness. I urge you to never forget to read in the words of the scripture every day and it will be a habit that will bless you greatly throughout your life.

Nephi also gave us this invitation: “I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” I invite you to always remember to pray both day and night and even other times when you need to commune with your Father in Heaven. Daily sincere prayer will help you see the world more clearly and understand right and wrong, just as glasses physically help those who have bad vision to see things around them better. As you pray each day, remember to thank God for the many blessings He has given you, and then ask Him for the help you need in your many activities. Remember that if you are tempted to not pray then this is the adversary seeking to keep you from connecting with your Father in Heaven: “If ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray” (2 Nephi 32:8-9). No matter how busy you are, you always have time to pray. I hope this question from a hymn that we often sing will remind you daily to pray: “Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray? In the name of Christ, our Savior, Did you sue for loving favor As a shield today?” Remember each day to put on your spiritual glasses by praying and reading your scriptures, and you will feel the Lord’s blessings more abundantly upon you. 

Love, Dad