Shades

I love the sunlight. I love the warmth on my shoulders and the boost to my mood it gives me. Most people are in better spirits on sunny days. There seems to be more fun to be had, more people to see and a better time doing it all. I have never met anyone that loves the sun more than my father. I have memories of him sitting close to the window so he could catch just a piece of a morning ray as a he read in the morning. He seems to know something that most of us don’t; that maybe there is something more that light and warmth that we receive from the sun. For him, the sunlight nourishes his soul.

I was sitting in church the other day and the matter of the influence of the Holy Ghost came up. Someone said, “I am grateful when the Holy Ghost is near.” Another person added, “I stay out of places the Holy Ghost won’t go.” I listened to those and other comments that were made, the general consensus being that the Holy Ghost comes and goes depending upon our choices and righteousness.

True, we have been blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost to lead us, guide us, and comfort us through our lives when we live righteously. And although no one knows exactly how the Holy Ghost works, I had a thought come into my mind that I shared. It was a different perspective than that of the Spirit being the one who moves closer and further. What if it isn’t him, but us? This is what I shared.

Imagine a house with floor to ceiling windows. On the windows are beautiful shades. Outside it is always day, and the sun is always shining without a cloud in the sky.

Sometimes my shades are open, so I can let the fullest amount of sunlight in. But sometimes, they are all drawn, and my house is dark and cold. The sunlight is always there, always shining. It is with my agency that I decide how much I allow in.

It is the same with the Holy Ghost. He is always there, always wanted to lead, guide and protect. But, it is our agency, the decisions that we make, that allow us to let him into our lives, or not. When we pursue that which is good, our shades open. When we pray with sincerity, hug our family, serve without reward, our shades open a little further.

On the contrary, when we at out of anger and selfishness, we draw the shades down. When we use the agency that God gave us to hurt others and ourselves, and go against the commandments that have been given us, we close the shades completely.

The difficulty lies in the fact that, even when the shades are completely down, we can turn a lamp on and still see in our home. We have a false sense of security that all is well. But this light is artificial. Just as we can lower the shades in our “homes”, we can live in a way that we don’t allow the Spirit in our lives. We are led by an artificial source that casts a false light in our lives. The danger then lies in the fact that, just as our physical eyes can adjust to the dark; our spiritual eyes can adjust to spiritual darkness.

Now, every morning when I open the shades on my windows, I asked myself a spiritual question, “Are my spiritual shades open?”

My dad is right, there is something more, something special and unseen in the rays of the sun.