{"id":2232,"date":"2000-09-19T12:49:55","date_gmt":"2000-09-19T18:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/?p=2232"},"modified":"2021-03-15T10:47:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T16:47:34","slug":"light-visions-dreams","status":"publish","type":"speech","link":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/talks\/merrill-j-bateman\/light-visions-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Light, Visions, and Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
Before I begin the formal part of my talk, I wish to express appreciation to Sister Bateman for the wise counsel given today and for the extraordinary companion she has been to me through four decades. While I have tried to fulfill my dreams, many of which pertained to a temporal setting, she has focused solely on matters of eternal consequence. Her time and energy have been given to supporting a husband, raising children, befriending neighbors, visiting those with special needs, and creating a wonderful, peaceful home. She is a quiet, self-effacing woman\u2014one who does not seek the limelight. Her life is one of devotion to the Master. It is one of unselfishness. I cannot thank her enough. Although my words are embarrassing to her, I pay tribute to a remarkable friend and companion and hope that many of you will come to know her personally.<\/p>\n
The semester is more than three weeks old, and this is Sister Bateman\u2019s and my first opportunity to welcome you to campus. We are grateful for all of you assembled. You are an incredible student body gathered to learn from a world-class faculty and staff. This is a marvelous campus. We hope you appreciate living each day in one of America\u2019s most beautiful settings. The beauty of the flowers, the tree-lined walkways, and grass-covered quads create a peaceful atmosphere accented by the mountains, blue skies, and exceptional facilities. The setting created by the Lord and the board of trustees establishes a standard for our purpose and dreams. The purpose of Brigham Young University is to educate the minds and spirits of students in a learning environment that increases faith in God and the restored gospel. Our dream is the fulfillment of President John Taylor\u2019s prophecy, in which he stated:<\/p>\n
You will see the day that Zion will be as far ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind as we are to-day in regard to religious matters. You mark my words, and write them down, and see if they do not come to pass. <\/i>[JD<\/i> 21:100]<\/p>\n
Today my thoughts are centered on the dreams and visions that inspire temporal and spiritual progress and the principles that produce growth and achievement. Scientific discoveries during the last 100 years exceed the cumulative findings of all the centuries that preceded it. I do not believe that the increase in knowledge is happenstance. It is part of the Lord\u2019s plan as He bestows additional light upon the earth\u2019s inhabitants. The Lord told Joseph Smith that the restoration of the gospel would be but a beginning to the light that He would pour out upon the earth\u2014not only spiritual light but also light that pertains to this temporal world (see D&C 121:26\u201332<\/a>).<\/p>\n During the preparation of a recent talk given to the faculty and staff, I became fascinated with the nature of light and its characteristics. All of us are aware of the natural light that emanates from the sun, which provides the heat and light that sustains temporal life on earth. In contrast, few of the earth\u2019s inhabitants are aware of the spiritual light that emanates from a different Son\u2014our \u201cbright and morning star\u201d (Revelation 22:16<\/a>). Even fewer people appreciate the close relationship between spiritual and natural light.<\/p>\n Physicists have studied light for many years, fascinated by its dual nature. Photons of light behave like streams of particles in some circumstances and like waves in others. In a diffraction experiment, light appears to be a wave. When light is used to bombard certain materials, it appears to be composed of particles. The German physicist Max Planck developed a theory in the early 1900s that \u201chelped explain how tiny particles, such as photons, behave like waves. His theory . . . helped scientists accept the idea that light behaves like both particles and waves\u201d (World Book Encyclopedia,<\/i> 1974 ed., \u201cThe Nature of Light,\u201d s.v. \u201cLight\u201d).<\/p>\n Another form of light not studied by physicists is light in the spiritual dimension. At Brigham Young University we are privileged to know about, access, and benefit from a more refined light that emanates from Christ. It, too, is the source of life\u2014eternal life. This light, the Light of Christ, is the source of truth. In speaking to Joseph Smith, the Savior said:<\/p>\n For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.<\/i><\/p>\n And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.<\/i> [D&C 84:45\u201346<\/a>]<\/p>\n In the study of light, physicists have discovered that light has a spectrum. The visible portion of that spectrum displays many colors. The light spectrum has proven useful as physicists and engineers have designed equipment that allows each color to be used as a conduit, thereby multiplying the carrying capacity of light.<\/p>\n The visible spectrum of light has a spiritual counterpart. The spiritual spectrum pertains to various levels of intelligence, beginning with animal instinct and moving to more refined forms of light and truth. The higher gradations include man\u2019s reasoning ability and conscience, the light that comes through the Holy Ghost prior to baptism, and the light one receives through the gift of the Holy Ghost after entering the Lord\u2019s kingdom. Finally, a fullness of light is received when one has proven worthy of the Second Comforter and receives the \u201cmore sure word of prophecy\u201d (2 Peter 1:19; D&C 131:5). (The spiritual spectrum of light is based on statements by Parley P. Pratt in Key to the Science of Theology,<\/i> 9th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1965], 46\u201347; and Charles W. Penrose,JD<\/i> 26:21\u201322.)<\/p>\n More than 100 years ago, President Charles W. Penrose, citing section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, stated that the physical and spiritual spectrums of light are related and belong to one continuum. Speaking of the Light of Christ, the Spirit of God, he said:<\/p>\n It is the light and the life of all things. It is the light and the life of man. It is the life of the animal creation. It is the life of the vegetable creation. It is in the earth . . . ; it is in the stars . . . ; it is in the moon . . . : it is in the sun, and is the light of the sun, and the power by which it was made; and these grosser particles of light that illuminate the heavens and enable us to behold the works of nature, are from that same Spirit which enlightens our minds and unfolds the things of God. As that light comes forth from the sun, so the light of God comes to us.<\/i> [Charles W. Penrose, JD<\/i> 26:21]<\/p>\n Brigham Young University is part of the miracle of the Restoration. The goal of the university is to be filled with light and truth\u2014both temporally and spiritually. In order for this to occur, all of us assembled must be diligent and obedient in pursuing truth if we are to be conduits of the full spectrum. Brigham Young University is unique in that it is the only university that can develop curriculum in the context of the restored gospel. This is our core competency. We will fulfill John Taylor\u2019s prophecy if we are worthy to abide the influence of the Lord\u2019s Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n Centuries ago the Old Testament prophet Joel spoke of our day and of the events preceding the Lord\u2019s second coming in the following words:<\/p>\n And it shall come to pass . . . that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. . . .<\/i><\/p>\n