words to create by...seek...
Thursday, November 10, 2011 I've been collecting words.
I've seen these projects around the web where you take a word each week and photograph things inspired by that word. I've wanted to try it for a while, but for whatever reason I haven’t. But, I have been collecting good words that I wanted to explore and cut them up and put them in an envelope.
So with my renewed goal to be more creative, I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t want to limit the project to photography (especially right now…I’m at work for almost all of the light hours of the day…this makes photographing pretty tricky). So I’m going to create something each week from the word to pick at random and post it here (and I use the term “week” loosely).
So my first word (chosen at random) is…
SEEK
Two things popped into my head when I started to think about “seek”.
The first was the scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 88:118):
118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
I believe this is among the best advice you can find in the scriptures.
The second , is a bit more obscure. I’ve always been fascinated with the wise men from the story of the birth of Christ. I’ve especially been interested in the moment that they recognized that star as a sign. They were the ultimate seekers and they were rewarded as such.
I know that the commercialized idea of the wise men is not accurate. I don’t see them at the manger. I see them searching and studying and looking for that star and then one day it was there! I can only imagine that moment and the joy they must have felt. It was the sign that the Savior of the world was here!
At first I set out to draw this moment. But it wasn’t coming out right. So then I started to think about the two ideas I had about the word together. Even though that moment of discovery was amazing and I tend to fixate on this idea, it didn’t fit the word “seek”. My word wasn’t “found” it was “seek”.
So then I pictured the wise men seeking for signs of his coming. I’m sure they studied and prayed and watched with faith until that day. There is a lot to be said about that seeking process.
What if they had searched their whole lives and never saw the star? Would all of that effort have been wasted? No! What they would have found in that process would have essentially been the same. They would have found Christ. Maybe not the physical baby Jesus but they would have found and came to know their Savior.
This can be applied in many ways. First, and most obvious, is that if you seek Christ you will find him. This is true. But, also is that there is so much in the journey that we will miss if we are only waiting to see the star. In the process we will find Christ, and knowledge, and joy, and life, and ourselves.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said:
"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
So keep searching for that star and keep in mind all that you will find in the process…
Reader Comments (2)
I really love your "wise guy". He is awesome. I also love the example that you gave of the wise guys search for truth!
I see you've got a lot of words to choose from. I think it's not the one that we seek that fulfills us when we find what we sought but rather the process of seeking and the things we learn from it.