After the morning session of Conference (we are blessed enough to have BYUTV and can watch at home in our "jammies" in front of the television set) a program came on titled, "Turning Point". There were a few subjects, the first being the story of a couple who have adopted 21 children who would have, otherwise, probably died in their situations. The second subject focused on several different children who were handicapped either through birth or something that occurred a little later, but these children were severely handicapped. It broke my heart to watch the children, and their parents; although dealing with difficult situations, believed that their children were capable of thinking; that they just could not convey to the world because of their bodies, what they were thinking.
There has been a breakthrough in technology whereby electrical patches(which are wired to the computer) are attached(with adhesive) around the eyes and held on with surgical tape. These children are now able to convey that they "know" things and are "smarter" than their physicians knew, by using their eyes and looking at the right answer (the mouse moves the cursor where they are looking) or "shooting" down an alien (a game). In fact, one of these children were allowed to go to school starting in the 6th grade and then graduated (he had not been allowed to attend this school until the Superintendent saw him use the technology). By the way, the new technology is called "Eagle Eye", and the inventor had no idea when he came up with this that it would be so life-changing for handicapped children and their families or himself, for that matter!
So I was thinking how these children's minds were trapped in their bodies with no way to express themselves until the Eagle Eye technology had been invented. It must be so frustrating (and so sad). We in some ways are like these children (to a much less degree); our spirits are housed in our physical bodies ; I wonder if it's difficult for our spirits sometimes, feeling like they are not recognized, heard or understood? And then I was wondering what our "eagle eye" might be; what could we use in order to recognize our spirits and to feed them. I know that when I read from the scriptures and heed what they tell me (and even liken them or apply them to my life), my life is better for it. (I've heard a saying that goes something like, we use prayer to communicate with God and He uses his scriptures to answer us.)
We have a loving Heavenly Father who is the Father of our spirits who wants us to feel joy (and how can our spirits be fed fully without joy?) We find many places in the scriptures that speak of "joy"; In Psalms 35:9 "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.", 118:24 "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.", John 16: 20 "...but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." 2 Nephi 2:25 (Book of Mormon) "...men are that they might have joy." (there are numerous listings for "joy" in the scriptures).
For me, I know that my spirit is being heard and recognized when I feel peace and/or joy; it's a "full" feeling, one of gratitude. We are on this wonderful earth to gain experiences and to show our Father in Heaven that we want to be obedient and to do the best we can (with His help), and through the Atonement of his Son we can return to live again with Him. It is a life-long pursuit and one that we can all joyfully undertake.
" Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard." 2 Nephi 4:16
(I'm not sure all of this makes sense on paper, or written down; I really wanted to try to communicate the analogy and hope it made sense) Feel free to add your ideas or thoughts; I'd really appreciate any input.
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