I love symbols. I love thinking of two things, seemingly unrelated, and finding a connection. Something that brings them together on common ground and opens your mind to a new perspective. From an early age, I would pour over poetry and relish the metaphors and symbols. It was "nerdy", but I loved it. I still do. I don't think of it as nerdy anymore, but as essential to gospel learning. The Lord uses symbols all the time! The more practice we have with learning through symbols, I think, the better off we'll be. Here's the best part of learning something through symbols: You can learn something new every time you read/experience it!
You'll see different connections you haven't seen before simply because you are different each time you read; a different person with different circumstances, with more experiences. I think that's one reason the Lord uses symbols. They are timeless!A large part of the Lord's symbolic teaching comes through allegories/parables. I was reading one this morning: Jacob 5. The allegory of the Olive Tree. Full of symbols! I am not going to give a full discourse on all the symbols and their meanings. I like to keep my posts short :).
And there are lots of explanations out there (like this one) much better than I could give.
I just want to share what I got out of the parable this morning. It's something different from last time I read it, and you may get something totally different than I did. (If you've never read Jacob 5, click the link above and read it. The rest of my post won't make sense otherwise.)
As I was reading, I was writing down the whole sequence of events, hoping to get new meaning out of it. The Master and his servant have a lot of back and forth. They come to the vineyard, see work that needs to be done, do it, come back later to check, etc. It's basically a history of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout time.
I got excited as Jacob talked about the trees being planted in a choice land (America! Happy 4th!). Now the allegory was approaching a time with which I was more familiar. This was the history of my nation and the gospel in my time! But as the Master and His servant visit the vineyard after a time, they notice all the fruit in this choice land is corrupt. What a disaster! All that work and love for a bunch of bad fruit.
The Master was sad to think that all the branches would need to be destroyed. But the servant convinced him to try one more time.
So what do they do? They come up with a rescue plan. There will be pruning, nourishing, digging about, etc. And then, because I was writing an outline and paying more attention than normal, I noticed something that seemed huge to me. Up until this point, it's just the Master and his servant discussing and doing all the work. But, once this rescue plan is in place, something changes. The Masters says:
61 Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit.
62 Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard.
Other people get involved! There were more laborers needed.
71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.It hit me. This is my time! This part of the story is happening right now. And we can all be one of the laborers.
Doctrine and Covenants 4:3 "Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work."
At the end of the story, all the good fruit eventually overtakes the bad fruit, and the trees are all unified.
75 And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.
That can be us! I definitely want a piece of that joy. And whether I experience that joy or not, all depends on what I choose to do during my time on earth. Am I laboring diligently? Am I furthering the Lord's work? Am I involved? Am I rescuing?
The allegory really put it all into perspective for me. The whole history leads up to this point, and this is the last great effort to save the vineyard. Will we be part of it?
I can't help thinking of a line from Goonies. All you 80's movie fans out there, know the line! It's Sean Austin being inspirational long before he was Rudy!
"Down here it's OUR time! It's OUR time down here!" Let's make the best of it!
