By The Light of the Stove

This morning a magical thing happened. I woke up before everyone else and had the dark and quiet house to myself. I prepared for the day and began my morning scripture study. So as not to wake anyone, I turned on only the light above the stove and stood by that light to read. I began reading in 3 Nephi 8. At this time, many of the people are prideful and have knowingly and willingly turned away from Christ. Destruction begins to take over the land. Many of the wicked are killed in these natural disasters. Those who are spared endure the loss of loved ones, the fear of possible sudden death, and darkness. There is a verse that describes the darkness in a very "visual" way. There could be no light because of the darkness. The people were not able to even light candles or torches...not even a "glimmer" of light could be seen. Father was in control of the elements, and He saw fit that no light shined. Darkness encompassed the Earth as a symbol of the death of the Savior Jesus Christ.

I wondered to myself, "Why couldn't they light even a candle? I know there would be 3 days of darkness (of the elements) as a sign of Christ's death, but why couldn't the people produce their own light?" This is when my Ah-ha moment came. What had just happened? The Savior of the world, the one true Light, had just been crucified. Isn't it fitting that no other light anywhere, of any kind, could be produced? My former thinking was too narrow and limited...just the natural elements (the sun, moon, and stars) would be darkened. I never thought symbolically...all light everywhere was gone because He who was Creator and Light of all was gone.

Imagine being in total, utter darkness for 3 days. You probably wouldn't even be able to keep track of time for three days. Those days must have seemed like an eternity. And the lack of hope and comfort and despair that they must have felt must have been immense. When Lehi was traveling in the mists of darkness in 1 Nephi it describes how much despair he felt..."nothing around to produce cheer or comfort." Isn't this what it would be like without a Savior to light the path and lead the way? Total despair and unhappiness. It would be like walking around in a fog of depression. This is how these people felt and how we might feel if we lose the Savior.

I shared these new learnings with my husband, and he gently reminded me that every chapter in the Book of Mormom testifies of Jesus Christ in some way. When I read this chapter previously, I only noticed the destruction. I would often read through it quickly to get to the all important 3 Nephi 11. I missed this nugget of truth.

And here I stood, by only the light of the small light above the stove, learning this great lesson about the one True Light of the world. How fitting!