Intimations of Divinity

I recently had the opportunity to walk through a religious art exhibit at the BYU museum of art. The exhibit is based on types and shadows of God. Many of the works are actual images of the Savior, But some have no obvious religious connection on the surface. There are immagers of mountains, a sculpture of a leaf, two chairs draped with red and white cloth. As I pondered these images, I could begin to see and feel the symbolism, and the meaning. One quotation that I really like that was in the museum booklet says, "The best thing about a painting or a piece of sculpture is that which cannot be described. And that elusive, mysterious quality we call its spirit may arise from something quite apart from its rhetoric, or logic or distinction."-BH Roberts.
That is very true. When I look at an image of Christ I don't expect to see a realistic depiction. I am not trying to learn what the Lord looks like. When I look and an image of Christ, I am looking for the feeling, the insight into who Christ is, and what he wants from me. If I can try to be like that feeling, that symbol, if I can follow these symbolic admonitions, I can learn about the Savior. The power in these paintings does not come from the artists. It flows through their brushes from the Great Artist who created them. These works open windows into Eternity. They help us to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. They are portals into Eternal life. I plan to return and spend some more time in the exhibit.

Modern Exodus

There are many parallels between the ancient Hebrew Exodus and the Latter-day Saints’ westward migration. Now I don’t know how much we can read into these parallels, as both of these stories are sequences of real events, one was not necessarily intended to be allegorical of the other. But it is very interesting to see the similarities. The events surrounding the three primary locations are similar. New York, where the prophet Joseph Smith was called, is like Egypt where Moses spoke to Jehovah in the burning bush. There the church was organized. Then after being persecuted, the saints traveled west to Kirtland, Ohio. This mirrors the Israelites’ stop at mount Sinai. Firstly, Kirtland is where the law was received. There were many revelations on how the church should be organized, and how the saints should live. Just as Moses went up to the mountain of the Lord and spoke with God face-to-face, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were visited by Jesus Christ and other ancient prophets in the recently constructed Kirtland temple. They received more instruction and more authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel. Also, remember that Moses returned to find the Children of Israel in sin and revelry. The Kirtland period of church history saw many stalwart church members, including apostles and other church leaders, apostatize from the church. Some of them merely abandoned their beliefs, but many joined those who were persecuting the church. Finally, after a long journey, The Hebrews entered the Promise land. But their beloved prophet, Moses, was not still alive on the earth. Joseph Smith, too, did not live “to see the saints their rest obtain.” He was killed by a mob in Illinois before the saints crossed the plains to Utah. Brigham Young, like the Joshua of old, Led the saints to settle the ‘promised land’ of Salt Lake City.