Drawing Closer to God
by Elder Terence M. Vinson of the Seventy
WHAT?
In Life of Pi, the fictional book by Yann Martel, the hero voices his feelings about Christ: “I couldn’t get Him out of my head. Still can’t. I spent three solid days thinking about Him. The more He bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave Him” ([2001], 57).
That’s exactly how I feel about the Savior. He is always near, especially in sacred places and in times of need; and sometimes, when I least expect, I feel almost like He taps me on the shoulder to let me know He loves me. I can return that love in my own imperfect way by giving Him my heart (see D&C 64:22, 34).
Our Savior wants us to really love Him to the point that we want to align our will with His. We can then feel His love and know His glory. Then He can bless us as He wants to.
SO WHAT?
I didn't see the movie, The Life of Pi and received mixed reviews of it from people I know who did see it. One such review struck my heart. A grandson who was almost 18 went to see it with his father, brother, and paternal grandmother. He was the only one in the group who saw Pi's search for God in a powerful way in the movie. He commented on it to me as being critical for his understanding of the story.
I think this grandson was in tune to that part of the message because he had been on his own search for God for quite some time. As a result of his search, study, and prayer, he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as soon as he was 18.
NOW WHAT?
I still have reservations about the movie (although I have heard it was visually stunning) because Hollywood has a tendency to sensationalize things and to overlook the deeper meaning in the text. But now, I do want to read the book, for I also find that the more I know about Jesus Christ, the less I want to leave Him.
Text copyright November 2013, Gebara Education
Picture of book cover from www.markmattewsauthor.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment