Today’s post is probably more direct than the tack I usually take with interpretation posts. Perhaps ironically, it will follow the flow of my thoughts somewhat, so here we go.
I published the Parable of the Darkened Apartment last December. The original concept that morphed into this parable was a guy who shuts light out of his life and becomes convinced that the sun doesn’t exist, no matter what people say who come to visit him or even manage to open his drapes. He would just refuse and ignore all the evidence.
That started to feel more like a social commentary than anything else—because don’t we all know someone like that?—not representative of something related to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I had a hard time seeing a positive ending. So I all but discarded the idea.
Then I went through an experience over months where I felt distanced from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I couldn’t figure out what I had done to cause this feeling. But I must have done something. I was still doing the things that had previously invited the companionship of the Holy Ghost. So why was I never feeling like the Holy Ghost was nearby?
Last October, I came the point that I figured that all might not be right with my mental or emotional health, and admittedly I started to feel kind of scared. But I in my fear I decided to get on my knees to talk with Heavenly Father about it, and I received a brief message from the Holy Ghost. It turned out I had neglected something I had never thought would be connected to how I was feeling, and when I made some small and simple changes, feeling more closeness with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost returned.
I learned about my need for both spiritual and physical light. So the concept of the person without light came back to me but in a bit of a different form.
Valerie chose to shut out the light in her life. In her case, it was because she was hurt and discouraged, and she isolated herself, including from everything that could help her. The reasons may be different for each of us, but perhaps the results are similar—if by our choices we distance ourselves from God and His influence, we can become used to living in the dark. We may think that light, or love, or hope, doesn’t exist for us in spite of any evidence to the contrary we’ve experienced in the past.
Perhaps the saddest part of Valerie’s story is that she stopped reaching for light, love, and hope.
I hope that if that happens to any one of us, there is that person—Kayla in Valerie’s story—who comes and causes a bit of light to come in as a reminder that there is happiness and glory to be found if we put forth some effort to open the curtains to it. The sun never stops shining, even though of necessity it’s blocked from our view at times. Going without it can help us appreciate it the more.
Many people prefer sunsets, but I find that I love sunrises more. Because after the darkness of night, the sun emerges and bathes the valley where I live in an incomparable golden cast and everything feels new and radiant, almost like Midas’s touch but in a good way. Such can be our experience every time we struggle against something dark in life; afterward “shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2).
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