Tag Archive for: light

Seekers Wanted

As a child, I often played hide-n-seek.
Hide-n-seek was a favourite game to play with our own children, especially in holiday homes, with so many fun places to hide.
Turning the lights off at night and hiding in the dark was always a riot.
Remember counting to 10, then shouting โ€œHere I come, ready or not!?โ€
๐’๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  to find someone in the dark with a torch light was such fun!
The word ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค means to go in search of, try to discover, try to acquire, with energy, direction, passion, and purpose. And that was always the case with hide-n-seek!
๐’๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  implies so much more than merely looking.
๐’๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  is always more of a journey, than any single event.
And on any journey, there are always many peaks and valleys.
I encounter many in the world looking for answers to the question that Jesus asked in the New Testament, โ€œWhat ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค ye?โ€ โ€“ John 1:38
How would you answer Jesusโ€™ question?

Are you ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ something?

Money, wealth, a job, success, a good reputation, happiness, security, comfort?
Like many things in life, success, money, security, are fleeting, elusive, often uncertain and anything but guaranteed.
Are you scrambling in the dark?
Where are you ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ with your torchlight in hand?
In their response to Jesus, the disciples responded by saying they were not ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ something, but rather ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐จ๐ง๐ž.
They were ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ the Messiah.
The disciples werenโ€™t the only ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ that day.
Jesus Christ too, was and is a ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ซ.
He too is looking for disciples to follow Him, two millennia ago and today.
Real happiness does not come from ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ things; it comes from ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ Jesus.
As you ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค for Jesus Christ, youโ€™ll recognise too, that He is ๐’”๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ you.
His light is far more powerful than your torchlight.
Daily, honest ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ of truth find an answer to the question, โ€œWhat ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค yeโ€ through missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
And you can too.
What ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ค ye?

Three Gifts

๐“ฃ๐“ฑ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ฎ ๐“–๐“ฒ๐“ฏ๐“ฝ๐“ผ…
Our missionaries have been very busy this week.
There has been lots and lots of service in the community.
And, in addition, at Christmas marketโ€™s, town squares and on many a street corner throughout Belgium and the Netherlands, missionaries have given away thousands upon thousands of gifts.
Greeting so many, the message is simple โ€œ๐“œ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“’๐“ฑ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ผโ€
Weโ€™re not talking about the latest Red/Blue Nintendo Switch for son, the Barbie Extra Deluxe for daughter, the beautiful new necklace and flowers for mum or the special new jumper and tie for dad.
No, none of those.
Set those and the many other gifts galore aside.
We didnโ€™t even give away any gold, frankincense or myrrh.
Remember, the gold points to Jesusโ€™ royalty, the frankincense to his divinity, and the myrrh to his humanity.
All of which we honour and respect.
Rather consider the little gifts we did giveaway.
Three little chocolate hearts filled with only one thing – ๐“ต๐“ธ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ.
Through it all, there is perhaps one common denominator for Christmas โ€“ it is ๐“ต๐“ธ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ…
โ€œGod be thanked for loving us enough to send His Only Begotten Son. Jesus Christ changed the world for each of us with His atoning sacrifice. He is the light of the world. He is the light we need to hold up. He is the light that fills us with good will toward all people.โ€ Russell M. Nelson
We hope amid all the hustle and bustle of gifts and gatherings, you will let your life reflect the ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ๐“ฝ ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ต๐“ธ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ of Jesus Christ this Christmas time.
Merry Christmas dear friends.

Lamplighters…

๏ผฌ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝŒ๏ฝ‰๏ฝ‡๏ฝˆ๏ฝ”๏ฝ…๏ฝ’๏ฝ“

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

If we choose to follow Him, He will light up everything.

โ€œThen spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.โ€โ€”John 8:12

Sir Harry Lauder a Scottish singer and entertainer from many years ago, told a story about the old lamplighters in Glasgow.

Generations ago, as darkness started to fall, all around Scotland (and around the world), lamplighters would start to make their rounds.

They’d put their ladder up against the light post, climb up and light the lamp, step back down, pick up the ladder and carry on to the next lamp. It was a one by one process.

Sir Harry said, “After a while, the lamplighter would be out of sight down the street. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ˆ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐›๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐”

Jesus Christ is the greatest lamplighter of all.

He constantly lights the way.

Has your โ€œlampโ€ been lit by Him yet?

In Psalms 119:105 we read “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Perhaps you too are a lamplighter?

Robert Louis Stevenson told it this way. (A Leerie is a lamplighter)

“My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
Itโ€™s time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.

Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papaโ€™s a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what Iโ€™m to do,
Oh Leerie, Iโ€™ll go round at night and light the lamps with you!

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him tonight!”

Lamplighters from a bygone age, pushed back the darkness from generations ago.

With Jesus Christ, the greatest light of all, we too can push back the darkness by following Him today.

We will always be safe, and I know He shows us which way to go.

If you’d like to find out how Jesus Christ can light up your life and be a lamp unto your feet, just speak to one of our missionaries.

How can you be a lamplighter this Christmas and light someoneโ€™s world around you?

No Room?

๏ผฎ๏ฝ ๏ฝ’๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ผŸ
We had an incredible Christmas Conference in Brussels on Friday with our entire missionary force.
They are certainly a force to be reckoned with!
It was a wonderful experience, a real delight to be with everyone and one of many highlights of 2022.
Although the chapel was tightly packed, we had enough available room to spare for everyone to gather and sit comfortably.
During the course of the conference, I shared a verse of scripture from Luke 2:7…
โ€œAnd she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was ๐ง๐จ ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ for them in the inn.โ€
Sterling W. Sill commented on that verse as follows:
โ€œFor His entire thirty-three years on earth, this cry of “๐’๐’-๐’“๐’๐’๐’Ž” almost became a theme song for His life. With many people there was no room for His teaching. There was no room for His miracles, no room for His doctrines, no room for His faith.
Even in our day, with the judgment of time shining upon his life, we are still re-enacting the ancient scene of Bethlehem by crying, โ€œNo room, no room.โ€
We make room for gifts, but often we have no room for the giver. We have room for our own commercialism of Christmas and our pleasure seeking on the Sabbath day, but we have no room for worship. No room for service, no room for righteousness. The reason there was no room in the inn was because all of the available space was already occupied. And we are only following the ancients when we fill our lives so full of other things that we have no time or space left for the Light and Life of the world.โ€

Pause for a moment.

Look around, the annual commercialisation of Christmas is now well underway – again.
Christmas is what each of us make it.
Despite all the distractions, it is up to each of us to choose to put Jesus Christ at the very centre of our celebrations.
โ€œFinding the real joy of Christmas comes not in the hurrying and the scurrying to get more done, nor is it found in the purchasing of gifts. We find real joy when we make the Saviour the focus of the season. We can keep Him in our thoughts and in our lives as we go about the work, He would have us perform here on earth.โ€ โ€“ Thomas S. Monson
I hope that as we start to count down the days to Christmas, each of us will remember the light that Jesus Christ brings into our livesโ€™ and always remember to make room for Him.
What room are you making for Christ in your home this Christmas?

Are you sleepwalking through life?

Are you sleepwalking through life?
I remember years ago, when one of our daughters came into the living room late one evening, it was clear that she was sleepwalking, and had little control over her actions. We guided her safely back to her bed and tucked her in. Although funny at the time, sleepwalking can have serious consequences.
Sleepwalking โ€“ โ€œthe act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep, of which one is unaware upon awakening.โ€
Are you a little bit sleepy?
If you are truly unaware of who you are, or asleep to what you truly want, or have little purpose or direction in your daily routines, then respectively, may I suggest that you may be sleepwalking through your life.
– Are you fed up with the same daily routines, like being on autopilot?
– Or perhaps feeling constantly overwhelmed?
– You may have regular negative feelings about yourself?
– Your emotional state may have regular extreme swings from happy to sad.
– Do you have a lot of conflict or drama in your life?
In my life, I have found that oftentimes the best answers come when I start to slow down and wake myself up. A guide on the side, someone who can help you along your way, can really help.
Just like we helped our daughter safely back to bed, a coach can help you too.
Sleeping is a natural state, but eventually, awakening is a natural process. Sooner or later, anything that sleeps will awaken.
The Apostle Paul writing in the New Testament book of Ephesians 5:14 states; โ€œWherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.โ€
I believe that Christ has given me light in my life.
It is time to awaken from what is asleep in your own life?
It is easy to fall back asleep.
However, the real winners in life, are the ones who evaluate their situation, awake from their sleepwalking and deep slumber, make a decision, then act and are not acted upon.
What ways have you found to awaken yourself to what matters most in life?

Learning – Lighting the way ahead.

I love to learn.
The older I become, the more I enjoy the words of thoughtful writers both ancient and modern.
The more we learn, the more we are in a position to learn.
Gordon B. Hinckley stated โ€œThe learning process is endless. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds. I believe in the evolution of the mind, the heart and the soul of humanity. I believe in improvement. I believe in growth. There is nothing quite as invigorating as being able to evaluate and then solve a difficult problem, to grapple with something that seems almost unsolvable and then find a resolution.โ€
I am so grateful to friends, colleagues and associates who motivate and inspire us to reach higher and do better.
As a teenager, I recall cycling in the early morning delivering newspapers and at night too, with the dynamo on my front wheel, lighting the way ahead. The faster I went the brighter the light, the slower I went, the light became dimmer.
So, it is with our minds.
Through ongoing personal development, we can keep the light of our personality and character shining ever brighter by reading good literature, then through our study, apply and action the learning into our lives.
How does learning, light the way ahead for you?

Like flame unquenchable – passing the torch

“What do you see in this image?” I asked in the online mission conference yesterday.
I invited all in attendance to take a long look at the image, and to carefully consider the thoughts that arose in their mind.
A few moments before, all 9 of our departing missionaries returning home in 7 days time, shared their final testimonies, one by one, with their peers in the mission field.
Throughout that intimate hour, the feelings of each of their hearts were intertwined with our hearts, being knit together in love, respect and admiration. There was a feeling of connection, togetherness and unity for a few special moments of time.
Deep and meaningful emotional connections come quite unexpectedly at times. When they do, donโ€™t be afraid to welcome them, gently explore them, embrace them and cherish themโ€ฆ.forever.
Each missionary has served faithfully, diligently and given their all throughout their service of 18 or 24 months and some a little longer. It is not easy to be a missionary!
In preparation for that moment, I hunted that morning for a picture that would capture the feelings of my heart, as I expressed my love for them one by one. I found this image below.

The Imagery…

In my mind, the image depicts two Olympic champions.
The one on the right is more senior, older, more experienced, wiser, a winner, looking a little wrinkled and perhaps just a little tired.
The one on the left, is younger, a little inexperienced, ready to learn, ambitious, fresh and keen to pick up the torch of the older Olympian.
All of our missionaries have the capability to be champions of whatever it is they choose to pursue. But in that moment, I saw something very special.
The 9 returning missionaries, were just like the older Olympian on the right, having given their all, their flame of Gospel testimony burning brightly, filled with warmth, light and hope.
They were in turn passing the flame of their individual torches, as a beacon to the world if you will, to the new up and coming generation of missionaries already infield and those arriving next week.
Poised to move forward, these younger missionaries primed with their torches are prepared and ready to carry the flame of the Gospel ever faster, higher, stronger and together, emulating the journey of those who went before. Indeed they will be standing on the shoulders of giants.
Many years ago, Brigham Young said… โ€œLet the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable.โ€ Without question, I am a personal witness of covenants burning like an unquenchable fire in each of these missionaries hearts.
As the torch passes from one generation to another, that fire and flame will continue to burn and shine, bringing light to an ever darkening world.
During this Christmas season as we remember our Saviour Jesus Christ, He is the light of the world, whose flame burns brightly in each of our missionaries hearts, wherever they serve around the world. Invite them into your homes, their message is sweet, beautiful and will alight a flame of hope in your life forevermore. Please consider the special gift they carry with them.

Light the World

“Big bobbles at the bottom and small ones at the top” said Cristi, as she outlined her strategy for the Christmas tree.
That was part of our conversation as we enjoyed some catch up time with Kyle & Cristi at home in Scotland last night on our weekly video call.
Many years of observation, listening and practice with mum had taught her well. Both Monic and Cristi have been busy the last few days, with a regular tradition of decorating the Christmas tree.
Already Christmas decorations seem to be everywhere. It is of course a huge part of celebrating the season.
Yesterday, Monic put lights on the tree and was busy creating a number of beautiful candle decorations around our home. Sitting in the living room this morning, there is a beautiful menagerie of her creative talents on show and under construction on the dinner table. How grateful I am for her thoughtfulness and desire to light our life with these wondrous symbols, reminding us of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Light

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught: โ€œMany of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds of lightsโ€”lights on trees, lights in and on our homes, candles on our tables. May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of Him who is the source of all light.โ€
Indeed, light is one of the most beautiful symbols of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In fact one of His many names and titles is “Light of the World.” He taught, โ€œI am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of lifeโ€ (John 8:12).
Christmas candles and lights can remind us that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. They can also remind us to be lights to others and to help others come unto Christ. The celebrations of Christmas can help us to remember Him.
I am especially looking forward to having our family time this Christmas season with our children, as each of them are shining lights to me.
I hope that as we start to count down the days to Christmas, each of us will remember the light that Jesus Christ brings into your life and choose to lighten someone else’s life through a kind act of loving service.

From Dark to Light

Are you fumbling around in the darkness?
The storms of life, dark, difficult moments, trials, tribulations, sickness, loneliness, resentment, fears can overwhelm us and we may fall into despair.
Arising early this morning, it was dark, very dark.
Autumn is here.
The thick early morning darkness of the season is upon us.
Carefully in the darkness, I cautiously moved forward into the vast darkness of the bedroom. As I placed one foot in front of the other, I became acutely aware of my tiny steps, wary of any obstacles in the way.
Moving forward apprehensively, I slowly, gingerly stretched out my arms, feeling, touching, sensing in the denseness of that dark moment, in which direction to move onward, towards my objective.
My pace was deliberate and measured.
After a few seconds, my goal was achieved.
Clutching my dressing gown and slippers, I turned around and once more faced another dark period of retracing some of my steps and out of the bedroom, into the hallway, down a flight of stairs and finally arriving in the living room.

Turn the Light On

I then chose to turn the darkness off, by turning the light on.
Figuratively, many of us may be in a similar space, right now, right at this moment in time.
Searching, seeking, inquiring, exploring for a new direction and answers, yet feel surrounded by gloomy darkness, filling our thoughts and actions.
This is a time for faith, not for fear.
Throughout life, I have learned that when the night is dark, when thick gloominess surrounds us, each of us have an opportunity to move forward by exercising our faith in Jesus Christ.
He is the light.
He is the light of the world.
Little by little, step by step by putting our hand in the Lordโ€™s hand and relying upon Him, will help each of us through, even the darkest of nights.
Doing so will strengthen our faith and answers will come.
Choose to turn the darkness off.
Please choose to turn His light on.