There is something to be said about how easily and potent
something like a picture, object, sound, smell, phrase, or song can bring back
memories and remind you of things from the deepest parts of your brain. Take
the above image for example. This is a picture of a beautiful rose that I had
cut from one of my mom’s many rose bushes from her home. This was the first
rose that bloomed after she died. Every time I see this picture I am reminded
of this really hard time in my life, more importantly however is the symbolic
meaning of the rose.
For
me since my mother died, roses have become a beacon of her memory, reminding me
of her and her love whenever I see one because she adored them so. For her the
rose reminded her of the beauty of life in sight, smell, and touch. I am
thankful for having this symbolic gesture in my life because life is very busy,
hectic, and often very chaotic and my mind often falls into the same flow. This
is why symbols are so important for each and every one of us that have made
covenants and yearn to return home to our Heavenly Father.
Symbols
have been used since the beginning to teach and to remind us of a variety of
things in our lives. When you see the symbol of a giant yellow M, you think of
Big Mac’s and McDonald’s restaurants. When you see the bat signal you know Gotham
is being protected by Batman. Well for those who believe and worship God, the
bat signal is tame in comparison of signs and symbols used to save us and allow
us to return home.
In
the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are always using symbols and
tokens in our day to day lives for a variety of reasons ranging from reminding
us of our Savior and His Atonement for us all, to symbols in the Temple used to
teach us to become more like Him and have our minds expanded. We use these
symbols to help us because we know how short-sighted we can be and that short-slightness
can be used to lead us away.
These symbols as well as
all others we see or come into contact with on a daily basis have a very big
and scientifically proven impact on our minds all the way to the sub-conscious
level. This is why is it extremely important to be wary of just what symbols
and images you allow into your mind. Some symbols and images are used to
manipulate and distort your mind into thinking certain ways and Satan is fully
aware of how to use this to drive us away from God.
It is important to know
what the symbols in your life mean and what they are used for. God understood
the importance the symbols of our lives would be that He designed little “Easter-eggs”
throughout creation and if you look hard enough, you can find them because the
whole of creation testify that there is a God, that our Savior and redeemer
Jesus the Christ is very real and is our light and life.
I would challenge those
of you reading this to take a real good look at the symbols you see around you
and what impact they are having on your mind and spirit. Are they doing you
good or bad? Do you know what they really mean and just were they really came
from? Below I would like to include a couple of articles I found handy on the
subject.
