I feel a yearning to share my thoughts about the new Millennial Science called the Universal Model (UM). My daughter, Emalie, had the privilege this last semester of being the first group of youth mentored by UM’s chief scientist, Dean Sessions. I only caught snatches of information about UM until attending his presentation on January 6th. The spirit of its grandeur I caught early and that awe only grew while joining Emalie on a hike with Dean to look for specimens of Surface Chalcedony on a little hill up Bull Dog Canyon here in the Salt River Valley.
I now have a treasured box of such specimens and wonderful memories with Dean, his wife, and the rest of the group. Before and since the presentation, however, the joy of gaining and possessing this truth has been its own interesting specimen.
Hard Questions
When the opportunity arose to attend the UM presentation, I invited a few of my sisters. My dear sister Sarah and I had several conversations to help her understand the event I had invited her to. Her comment that she didn’t feel incredibly interested since she wasn’t home schooling right now puzzled me, a lot. Why wouldn’t any one be thrilled to go and what does homeschooling have to do with it? . . . What a wonderful and unexpected question!! The introspection began.
Why was I so excited to go? And what did I expect to do after the presentation? What personal benefit did I see gaining from the presentation?
One of my early thoughts about UM was a picture like this one:
It’s a picture of workers building the Salt Lake City Temple. What a privilege it would have been to be a part of building that iconic temple, a place that opens up the eternities for so very many of our Father’s children. I have no doubts that Emalie and everyone else associated with UM will someday feel the same way about their role now in UM.
But it isn’t just about being there.
After and through my discussions with my sister Sarah, I realized that it’s about rubbing shoulders with someone who has a vision of God’s Mission for him and being inspired by Dean Sessions’ commitment to Truth, to asking the Hard Questions and then doing the Hard Work to find those answers. I’ve found a kinship in these two qualities of his. Most, if not all, of my personal essays are about defining my own Hard Questions and then doing the Hard emotional Work, the work of refining my heart, to find the answers. And I pray that I might be a part of building something great like these Salt Lake Temple builders were and Dean Sessions is today, something that opens, even in a small way, the eternities for others.
“Truth shall spring out of the earth”
One of my very favorite Truths that I’ve found and felt in my heart from Dean and his work on UM, is an understanding of make up of our Earth. Dean Sessions explains that Scientists know that there is liquid inside of the earth. They claim that liquid is magma. UM claims and gives strong evidence that it’s water (and ice at the very core). In this case, truth really did “spring out of the earth” (Psalm 85:11) in the Universal Flood.
But what does it really matter for me to know this?? I have faith that the Bible is true. I’ve even exercised and seen power in its principles, and I’ve felt God’s influence in its pages. Somehow, though, it just feels right for this Truth to be universally understood right now, for the Dark Ages of Science to end. I suspect that God wants us to know Him better through this understanding and also, by this understanding, prepare us for His coming rule and reign on the earth. For me, I really like knowing that the earth has water inside of it. It’s rather like the difference between a Fire & Brimstone God and a Heavenly Father. It just makes me feel more loved.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
And consequently,
more free.
No comments:
Post a Comment