Neverland

Just as Peter Pan and the lost boys have magical adventures in Neverland, I seem to have found my own Neverland in my home town--Idaho Falls. This particular occasion, though, takes me all the way into the country (about 5 minutes from home). 

Drive 7 miles outside of town, turn left, and curve around the potato field. On your left you will see a large wheat field owned by Mr. Williams. Climb out of the car and start walking to the East, up the dirt road, and past the farm house. As  you pass the front yard you will come to a bridge with lanterns spaced every three feet. Continue over the planks of wood and down the stairs, but be careful not to trip. Once you go down, you'll being hearing a stream and everything is dark. Once you see (or feel, if it is really dark) the tree trunk to your right, start climbing--you'll find hand holds and foot pegs as you feel around. You could stop on the first floor, but the second and fourth floors are my favorite. From the second floor you can climb onto a hammock and see a picture frame view of rolling hills covered with wheat and the moon just cresting the tops of distant trees. The fourth floor is enveloped in the leaves, but if you are quiet you can still hear the stream rushing below. Dangling from ever branch are sea shells and pieces of glass that shimmer in the moonlight. 

This is one of my most treasured discoveries. When I think about this time, I think about the need that we all have to take time to see the Neverland around us. There is beauty all around, if we only take the time to look. I will always take the time to look at a field of wheat, a beautiful mountain, or even my own breath in a cold winter's morning.

Light In Their Eyes

There is a story told of how a group of Latter-day Saint youth was going on a trip to Jerusalem. In order to gain access to the area the group needed to sign a form saying that they would not proselyte. During a meeting between the group leaders and their Israeli liaisons, one of the liaisons said that he was not worried about the students proselyting, but wondered about how to turn off the light in their eyes.

Last year, I discovered a way to do just that in myself. A series of unfortunate events led to an understandable state of despair. Feeling the walls enclosing and needing to breathe I set out for the highest place I had easy access to, the roof of my residence. I needed my mind to hearken back to a simpler time, a time where the cares I currently had could clear. I pulled out my phone and searched for a picture of the rising sun. After a bit of searching, I found it- a picture I had taken of a remarkable sunrise months before. That sun brought warmth to my soul. As I sat staring at this picture yearning for the light of that sun to permeate my life, it faded away and left behind in the spot where the sun had been was the reflection of my eye. The reflection had been there the whole time I stared at the screen; it was just filled with light before. As I sat there and stared into my own soul it was made clear, I must not lose the light that is in my eyes.

This voyage of discovery took me not only into a world where I learned how to lose the light in my eyes, but through a world where I learned how to gain it back.