Parable of the Film Emulsion

I'd like to share a gospel insight that I discovered as a result of photography a little over a year ago.

…have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? …can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? (Alma 5:14,19)

How is it that we can have the image of God engraved upon our countenances?” Perhaps the parable of the film emulsion can help explain it.

Film emulsion is made of millions of light sensitive salts and crystals that react and change to light, and make photography possible. When the light sensitive emulsion of film is exposed to light coming through the camera lens, past the shutter, the image of whatever the camera was “looking at” is “engraved” on the film. The emulsion is extremely sensitive so the camera settings must be very precise to take a clean picture. So it is with us, if we look to Christ his light will shine through and engrave itself on our countenance. We have to be careful not to take our eyes off of Christ and the light of the gospel and “expose ourselves” to harmful influences. When we are looking for solutions to the stresses of life, where do we look? If we want Christ’s image in our countenance it’s not simply enough to look in his general direction. The lens must be adjusted and the focus set. It is easy to miss the mark and lose focus if we don’t give careful attention to our priorities. Even within the frame of the gospel, is Christ the center of our attention, focus, worship, and service? In a world of so much filth hopefully we are especially careful about the images and messages that appear in front of our lens. If we want to keep ourselves spiritually sensitive, we can’t afford to overexpose ourselves to worldly influences or underexpose ourselves to light of the gospel.

Run For Your Camera

The other morning I was walking back from campus after taking a final, and saw something similar to the image above. The sun had recently peaked over the mountains, was backlighting the clouds, and rimming the edge of the mountain. Moments like that don't last long, so as soon as I got to my apartment I grabbed my camera and ran over toward Kiwanis Park to get a clear shot of the mountain. By the time I got there the moment was gone, but it was still picturesque as you can see above.

Sometimes it's nice not to have a camera at my side, because I can't get anywhere fast with one. I always want to capture those moments I see and share them. Often it's better to enjoy what's there for a moment and gone the next, rather than missing the joy of the moment because I was caught up trying to preserve what was always meant to be transitory.

And just for fun here's a picture that I've posted before, but with a couple of filters added to it.

Hello Spring!

It's beginning to look more like spring and less like winter everyday now. Warmer weather means more pictures, because I don't have to risk frostbite on my fingers. Here are a handful of photos from the past week:

Isn't spring beautiful! I'm still looking for a tree with real popcorn though...

An Easter Message

"May we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith."

Festival of Colors

I went to the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork yesterday. I'd never been before, and I was glad I made it. It was amazing! People were throwing colorful chalk everywhere. I was smiling for a picture and got a load of it right in my mouth at one point. Two of my friends got chalk in their eyes, which is not so fun I imagine, but when tears started streaming out of their eyes leaving a wet path in the chalk on their faces it looked pretty awesome! You know, sometimes you just have to let your face become a canvas to be painted on.

Also, here are a few more photos from the last couple of days:

Which do you like better? Black and White, or Color...

The Collision of Man and Nature

About a year and a half ago I took the picture above (It's actually a combination of two different exposures). I used it in an art show and titled it "Please Recycle." The title had a little bit to do with the framing as well, because I made the frame from cardboard. But this picture gave me an idea for an art show that I'd like to have some day. You see, the blades of grass in the picture are actually growing out of a gravel pit in what I would call an industrial area. So what intrigues me the most about this picture is the collision and coexistence of man and nature; or the combination of man-made-inorganic-material and organic life. Since then when I see some subject that seems to fit within this idea, I've just got to take a picture of it. Well my collection of images for this future art show is growing, and below are a few more that I took this afternoon.

Lift Where You Stand

As I’ve gone back to reread some of the conference talks from this past October conference, President Uchtdorf’s talk from the Priesthood session really stood out to me. It was an exceptional talk when I heard it in conference, but it wasn’t my favorite back in October. Since then the topic Lift Where You Stand has become even more meaningful to me, and addresses a couple of themes that I have been thinking about a lot lately.

One of the reasons that I have grown more fond of this talk recently is that it relates directly to my capstone project here at BYU. I’m a film major and this project is actually a short film called Man of the Cloth that I’ve been in the process of writing over the last year. The script is basically done at this point and it will be filmed in May, but in the process of writing many, many drafts I discovered that the theme at the heart of the story was about lifting wherever we are. President Uchtdorf talks about two different kinds of people; those who seek a cave or a crown. My film is about the second kind of person, probably because I am more often the type to seek a crown. In the film the main character wonders, like President Uchtdorf says, “What possible influence can I have [in this remote place]?” He thinks this with the best intentions, but the root of the problem he is falling into is selfishness. Without the right perspective and attitude, opportunities to serve and grow will be missed. It is like the often quoted line from a conference address by J. Reuben Clark in April 1951, “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines.” 1 We must concern ourselves with the quality of our service, not the visibility of our service.

Another related element of this topic is what Elder Oaks once referred to as “laboring in the remote corners of the Lord’s vineyard.” 2 These corners are perhaps unflattering or dull by the worlds standards but that doesn’t diminish the importance of God’s children who live there. There may not even be a multitude of people to serve in that place, but we know from the scriptures that even if there were only one soul in that corner of the vineyard no price would be too great to save that soul. No service goes to waste, because even if our service was of no use to others, at the very least it would be of benefit to us in bringing us nearer to Christ. I like the verse from the hymn I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go (Hymn no. 270),

There’s surely somewhere a lowly place

In earth’s harvest fields so wide

Where I may labor through life’s short day

For Jesus, the Crucified.

Whatever service we render, no matter where we are, is really service rendered to our Savior. It is for Him that we should labor.

Some of the most important service that often goes unseen and unrecognized is the service that is render in the home by loving parents. In a fireside given at BYU in 1990 President Hunter said, “Most of us may spend much of our lives giving service in relative obscurity. Consider the profound service a mother or father gives in the quiet anonymity of a worthy Latter-day Saint home.” 3 I think of my parents, the sacrifices they have made, and the profound impact they have had on my life. Where would I be without them? And yet, parenthood did not bring them wealth, fame, or recognition as the world measures it. I am so grateful for the other pursuits they put to the side selflessly in order to have a family. This is especially the case for mothers who may set aside school or a career they were working towards in order to raise children in the home. Remember, “thy Father which seeth in secret... shall reward thee openly.” (Matt. 6:4)

1. J. Reuben Clark, in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 154.
2. Dallin H. Oaks, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go,” Liahona, Nov 2002, 67–70.
3. Howard W. Hunter, “Out of the Limelight,” New Era, Sep 1991, 4