Small and Simple Things

  Peanut Butter. 
  Those four syllables have always played an important role in my life. Growing up, if I got hungry, it was a quick fix for the hunger monster.  Going into college, it was a staple and luxury, enhancing everything from cereal to oreos.  On my mission, my relationship with Peanut Butter has only continue to flourish.

 At this point, you're probably wondering where I am going with this.  Well, let me tell you.  Peanut butter was invented by a man named George Washington Carver.  One of the things I admire about this great man (besides his divine contribution to humanity via the peanut) is his sense of humor.  I remember hearing this quote from him once, and I immediately felt a bond of kinship to this great man:
 "When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'That knowledge is for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well, George, that's more nearly your size.'" ~George Washington Carver

 Now, I don't know about you, but I totally relate.  Sometimes, like Mr. Carver, I want to know everything, and I want to know now!  But also, like Mr. Carver, I am definitely not ready for God to reveal all of His secrets and mysteries to my puny, mortal brain.  I'm sure that would be similar in scope to standing beneath Niagara Falls with an open mouth, because you are thirsty and want a drink. 
 You'll find that 10 out of 10 physicians will recommend just drinking out of a glass of water instead.

 And so it is with life, knowledge, and the mysteries of God.  We may want it all at once, but because God is smart, he teaches us instead one day, one page, one sip at a time.  But if we are patient, God will teach us everything, little by little.  Which makes sense. 
 We have to start kindergarten to graduate from college. 
 We have to start at the base before we can reach the summit.
 We have to learn even the mysteries of a peanut before we can conceive the cosmos.

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..."

 From a seed smaller than an M&M comes the mighty Redwood. From one man's desire to learn about peanuts came the glorious reward of creamy (or chunky, both are good) peanut butter.  God can make seemingly simple things into something far greater.
 Be it a seed, a peanut, or me and you, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass."  All it takes is some patience, some faith, and an appetite to learn.

Imagination!

The other morning, as I was thoroughly enjoying a romp through the scriptures in my personal study, I came across a verse that spoke to my heart and captured my mind:
 "...he shall mount up in the imagination  of his thoughts as upon eagles' wings."

 Now, anyone who knows me is aware that I have been blessed with an abundance of imagination.  In some cases (usually during classes involving Algebra), I have a bit too much imagination, which often results in odd comments, excessive doodling, and apologies to teachers (and, occasionally, mission presidents) that I had not been paying attention and did not, in fact, hear the question.
 Although these are definite drawbacks to having an overactive imagination, I have a special place in my heart for the ability to ponder, wonder, and create, all within the confines of our own craniums.

 What would reading be like if we could not picture the words coming to life in our minds?  What would sleeping be like if we didn't have the wondrous (and sometimes, profoundly random) dreams that fill the space between dusk and dawn?  What would living be like if we could not dream, hope, and conceive?
 That I don't want to imagine.

 As I pondered (wooh!!) upon this subject, I realized that our Heavenly Father must have the greatest imagination of all.  I mean, all things on this earth and in the universe only came to be because He created it. "For I, the Lord God, created all things...spiritually before they were naturally upon the face of the earth."  Before we do anything, we have to think it first.  That is the beauty of the imagination: it is the laboratory inside all of us where we test, hypothesize, reject, or create.  Any idea must go through this cerebral crucible before it comes to life through or words or actions.  Through this, we learn what works, and what doesn't work.  We grow and progress, our thinking improves, our logic sharpens, our capacity to create expands.  We learn from failed ideas, and revel in successful ones.  When asked about his eventual success at creating the lightbulb, Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed 10,000 times. I have

successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work."
 In the profound words of Dr. Seuss, "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"
 The imagination is truly a wondrous gift from a very creative Father.  I believe we could all stand to devote a little more time to pondering and dreaming! As we do so, we follow in the footsteps of Him who imagined up everything.
  Then perhaps we, too, may "mount up...as upon eagles wings" in worlds of our own creation.