The Excitement of Truth

When I was eighteen years old I attended Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, Oregon. Five months prior to that I had changed my religious affiliation from Catholic to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Occasionally I passed a curious building. It looked a little like an office, yet had a sign that read The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Finally I decided to investigate and entered the building to inquire its purpose. The nice receptionist explained that the building housed the Church's Institute program. She said Institute was a program for LDS students that attended SOSC. Its purpose was to provide religious classes for the students. I told her I was a member and perhaps would like to attend some of these classes. She signed me up.
Faithfully I attended my institute classes and a very exciting thing occurred. As Brother Baird taught those classes my mind began to open to the scriptures. The difficulties I had in understanding the language and the ideas found in the ancient books disappeared. I felt the Spirit instructing me, enlightening my mind.
The excitement of what I was learning could not be contained. I would rush back to the dorm and share the many things I was learning with my non-member friend and my roommate. I can trace my excitement of reading, studying and pondering the scriptures to those institute classes held just north of SOSC.
The excitement created in me a hunger and thirst for scriptural knowledge. I desired to familiarize myself with every story and every character. The more familiar the scriptures became the more I loved them.
Familiarity with the sacred books brought clarity. I began to see clear lines of reason. The better I became at extracting principles from the books the more I was able to experiment in implementing the principles in my life. Soon blessings and success were flowing into my life.
A similar experience occurred a couple years ago as I read Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. I loved it. It was beautiful. Like the scriptures an excitement was awakened in me. I began to hunger and thirst for knowledge concerning the French Revolution. I read everything I could get my hands on. As I studied many questions entered my mind. “Why was the French Revolution so different from the American Revolution?” “What was Robespierre thinking when he instituted the Reign of Terror?” Like the scriptures, I became familiar with the French Revolution. The familiarity brought clarity. Like the scriptures, I wanted to share what I was learning with everyone.
Like my early years in institute, I can trace my excitement for reading, studying and pondering literature, history, politics, and philosophy to the reading of Charles Dickens. This excitement helps me to hunger and thirst for knowledge in these subjects.
But is it really just knowledge I am thirsting for?
Since the scriptures have been such a great guide I consulted them. And as I pondered certain scriptures I could see that the clarity in both of my experiences could be translated as light. “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.” (D&C 84:45) Obviously I know that the light of truth is what I experienced in my institute classes. But have I also experienced the light of truth in my study of literature, history, politics, and philosophy?
This question is more easily answered if I approach it from the opposite direction. It seems logical to me that the enemy of righteousness, Satan, would have desires to keep us from the most important truths contained in the gospel of Christ. “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthian 4:3-4) But the father of all lies would also desire us to be ignorant of all truth, whether spiritual or secular. “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning... (D&C 93:24) The wicked one desires to hide all truth from us. If true principles of history are hid, we will repeat the mistakes of the past. If truth principles of politics are hid, we will succumb to tyranny. If true principles of philosophy are hid, we will think truth is relative. What better way to destroy than to deceive and lead people from truth
So what do my two experiences have in common? Well, both of them involved light. In both instances I could feel the light of truth because things seemed so clear. They both created in me an excitement, a desire to share. I believe that being released from darkness and being able to see what I had been blind to previously, is very exciting. It is the feeling of peace and joy and freedom.
So where do I go from here? And where do others go who may also be experiencing this excitement? An epiphany came to me as I read the 33rd verse of Doctrine and Covenants section 121. “How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.” Heavenly Father will endow the righteous with power. That power will come from the knowledge of truth. It will cut through all the false and impure waters of our day.
My responsibility is to seek for knowledge out of the best books. Knowledge “of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms— That (I) may be prepared in all things when (the Lord) shall send (me) again to magnify the calling whereunto (He has) called (me), and the mission with which (He has) commissioned (me).” ( D&C 88:79-80)