Gathering Light During Seasons of Light

My family spent most of the day playing a game called Photosynthesis.  In this game, players place trees on a board, which collect energy each round. Players can use this energy to make their trees grow and plant more trees, which then gives them more energy. However, this game has a trick to it: The sun changes its position each round, and the trees create shadows which block the light from other trees. Depending on how players place and grow their trees, they could end up gathering lots of light on some turns and very little light on others. This energy is incredibly important because players need energy to grow their trees, collect more energy, and ultimately earn points and win the game. In the game of Photosynthesis, as with spiritual matters, it is essential to gather an abundance of light, especially when that light is plentiful, so we'll have enough light to get us through the seasons when the light is less abundant.

We have just experienced a season of light. Christmastime is a special time for Christians of all denominations, and many non-Christians celebrate religious holidays this time of year as well. Even those with other beliefs or no beliefs often get caught up in the spirit of the season and share in appreciating and sharing the light. By all accounts, even if we're only talking about the decorations, Christmastime is a season of light.

However, that season is winding down now. Soon, the gifts will all get put away and the lights will be taken down, and the world will go back to normal, which is far less light than it is at Christmastime. When that time comes, it will be our responsibility to ourselves and those around us to hold on to as much of that Christmastime light as possible. Light is abundant now. We should gather up as much of it as we can and hold on to it for when we or someone near us really needs it.

I know this message is arriving too late to be applied, but thankfully, Christmastime isn't the only time we can gather light. We can also gather light on Easter, at each General Conference, whenever we visit the temple, and, to a lesser extent, each time we take the Sacrament. Every time we feel The Spirit, we have an opportunity to draw on some of His light. So, we don't really need to worry about where our next round of light is going to come from.

However, we also shouldn't underestimate how much light we're going to need. The world is darkening, and it's going to take more and more light to hold the darkness at bay, let alone drive it back. That's why we need to make the most of times like this, when we can gather the spiritual light we know we're going to need later. It may already be too late for this season, but there's still some lingering light in our fresh memories of the last few days. We should try to hold on to that light until our next opportunity to gather light in abundance.