Thursday Thinking

the dimensions - one, two, and three

Life is fairly one dimensional for me.  I don’t see much beyond the basic outline until someone points it out. 

For example, remember the three dimensional Magic Eye pictures?  The kids worked and worked with me until I could see the pictures that are within the pictures.  Finding the dinosaurs in this picture took a loooong time.

http://funnyflux.com/2009/01/08/dinosaur-stereogram/

Though I don’t see a lot of depth naturally, I appreciate it when people point it out to me.  I have two nieces who see things three dimensionally and I love hearing their perspectives on life as well as seeing their drawings.  They make things richer . . . and make more sense.

Symbolism is a lot like third dimension.  It’s deeper than what you see on the surface.  Sometimes symbols are interesting and instructive.  Like an article I once read (similar to this one) that tells how the shape of many foods we eat are good for the body part that they look like.  For example, slice a carrot and it looks like an eye and everyone’s mother always said, “eat your carrots so you can see in the dark.”  Or how a walnut looks like a brain and walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which support brain function.  Or how celery looks like a bone and both bones and celery are 23% sodium and celery is a good source of silicon which is part of the bones’ molecular structure. 

I understand simple symbols (heart = love) but, like dimensions, need the more complex pointed out to me.  

I was so glad when Ande showed me that in art, Mary, the mother of Jesus, will usually be the woman in blue, because blue is the color of the heavens, purity, and divine nature.  Like Waldo, now I can always find Mary.

Ande also taught me what a circle within a square means in architecture.  The circle is infinite and eternal and the most perfect geometric figure; a circle represents God.  A circle also represents Heaven.  The square is not found in nature; it is man-made and therefore represents mankind.  The square also represents the four corners of the Earth.  Thus the circle within the square represents heaven and earth coming together – a place where man and God can meet.  I enjoy looking for circles within squares now on buildings and what that symbol is trying to communicate.

Because life is deceiving when it is seen in only one dimension, the gospel of Jesus Christ, rich in symbolism, gives life the explanation I need to see it more clearly.  The simple symbolism of the faith of a mustard seed helps me understand that the Lord can help me reach my potential if I trust Him.  Baptism, a symbol of burying the sinful me and being born anew, gives hope and beauty to world weary souls.  The earth is full of symbols that point us toward the Savior.  The scriptures say that “. . . all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath:  all things bear record of me.”  (Moses 6:63)

The Gospel fleshes out life.  It adds purpose, it adds understanding, it gives hope.  It takes what looked like a simple square and makes it a box – a gift box, no less – so much richer and fuller than a square.  And, you find that when you open that box and accept and live the details of the Gospel it makes life more meaningful and ultimately more simple, like the square.  Except that cycle is called a circle, so now we're back to the circle within the square where man can meet God.  

And that’s what I’ve been thinking . . .  how grateful I am for the Gospel which gives life meaning and makes it more simple to understand.


By the way, did you find the dinosaurs?