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Last time I used a tree symbolically in my lesson and now I want to expound a little more about this tree.
Would anyone know what this tree may be?
This tree, which I am referring to, is the tree of life. So what is the tree of life?
In the Book of Mormon, we read that Lehi, and later Nephi, see a vision involving an open field with a blossoming tree in the middle. There is a river which runs pass the tree and a castle fort on the other side of the river. There is also a dark mist surrounding the tree and there are people walking out from it reaching the tree whilst holding onto an iron rod. There are also people within the mist which wander off from the rod, some of whom fall into the river whilst others wander lost. On the other side of the river, the people in the fort are scoffing at the people wandering in the mist trying to find the tree. What does this vision represent?
The large open field is the world where it may be filled with many things, but it is ultimately empty and barren. In the midst of this world, there is a tree which is God and his love for us. It is in the centre of everything and here is where God stands and the fruit that it bears is his love; sweet, tender, full. But nearby is a river which shows the fine line between the joys of God, and the depths of hell. The dark mist that shrouds the tree is the temptations and confusions of the devil endeavoring to have people wander off into the river with him. The only way for these people to journey through the smog safely is to hold firmly to an iron rod, which is the word of God that leads them to the tree. Amongst the people who are in search of God are those in the fort on the other side of the river, whom are prideful, imaginative, and unrighteous. These people are nowhere near God where they are on the other side of the river, being the only thing that awaits them when they journey out of their own fortitude. However, if they conquer this river, and make it through the temptations, and follow the Gospel, they too can receive an eternal happiness. How does this apply to us?
This world is filled with many luxurious things such as money, cars, houses, fine clothing, but to what end? When we achieve these things, what next? Many yearn for more, while others don’t know what it is all for. But then there are those who seek happiness in other mediums, and when we centre our lives on God, we can experience something greater than all the fine manners of riches.
1 Nephi 8:11
And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted.
When we understand who God is and the basic principles of life, we learn that true happiness is within Him. We do not require wealth to experience heaven on earth. Thomas S. Monson explained this perfectly by sharing a story of a handicapped woman:
In one of the books this woman authored, “I had only one eye, and it was so covered with dense scars that I had to do all my seeing through one small opening in the left of the eye. I could see a book only by holding it up close to my face and by straining my one eye as hard as I could to the left.” Miraculously, in 1943—when she was over 50 years old—a revolutionary procedure was developed which finally restored to her much of the sight she had been without for so long. A new and exciting world opened up before her. She took great pleasure in the small things most of us take for granted, such as watching a bird in flight, noticing the light reflected in the bubbles of her dishwater, or observing the phases of the moon each night. To reach this beautiful understanding of life, we need to reach the tree of life and partake the fruit, and to do so, we need to follow the word of God closely. We grasp hold of the iron rod tightly so that we don’t slip, or we will wander off and become lost. We follow it down through wherever it may take us in our journey, and by enduring this to the end, we reach God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what we need to understand and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Life is simple and the fine things within nature is heaven. But there will be those who do not believe in such simple life and scoff at us when we reach this medium of joy. They find their pleasures in the wealth, their success, their shelters, and become prideful. The luxury and ease of such life pulls us away from the difficult journey through the mist. These temptations of the devil are like a dark tunnel and you see two points of light in the distance. One is God, and the other is the glimmer of gold. We cannot distinguish which is which in this darkness and follow towards one, and when you reach the gold and look back, would you want to walk through the darkness again to see what is in the other gapping light? Most will say nay as this easy life must surely be heaven and all we have is a river which cannot quench our thirst. This is why we must hold firm to the iron rod so that we are lead in the right direction from the beginning, not the end. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ will help us understand the simple pleasures in life. It will enable us to open our hearts and minds more to the world so that we can appreciate what we have, and know what we need to do. By following the iron rod closely through the straight narrow path, we reach a light, a light that holds a fruit which nothing can measure up to. It is something both seekers and scoffers look for, but only the seekers will find. And the question is, will all of you make that commitment to hold onto this rod? And I say these in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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