The Miracle of the Metaphor

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

--Isaiah 12:2-3

Isn't it great that we have metaphors? The purpose of metaphors is to compare a real but often complex concept to another real concept that is more easily understood. In the above scripture, it's safe to say that salvation does not come by physically going to a well and drawing water from it; however, we come to learn through our deductive reasoning that Christ is often represented by "living waters" (e.g., John 4: 7-15; 7:38), and that turning unto him through sincere prayer, repentance, and service is like going to a well, and drawing water out. In my opinion, there is a miracle in using metaphors: it is not the metaphor itself, but the fact that these comparisons can be used in such a way that "pierce[s] them that [do] hear to the center, insomuch that there [is] no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake" (3 Nephi 11: 3)

How is this done? It must needs be through the Spirit itself, which bears witness to our Spirits, that we are children of God (see Romans 8:16). The fact that we are children of God is universal, and is a trait that every inhabitant of the earth can boast. However, in our fallen state we often lose sight of basic, eternal truths that we held dear in the preexistence. Luckily, the Savior left the Spirit to testify and "remind" us of these truths. This is performed through an ethereal interaction not yet understood by modern science, where the Holy Ghost communicates with the spirit inside of each one of us, testifying of eternal truths.

So, it must needs be that the miracle of the metaphor be tied to familiarity, that it might fully pierce our being with tacit meaning.

In Helaman 5: 30 we learn about the voice of the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead:

And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—

When talking about spiritual metaphors or parables, the miracle has an extra wrinkle: readiness to listen and understand on the part of the recipient. We need to be in touch with the "perfect mildness" by which the Spirit speaks to us. A great scriptural example can be found in the Book of John. Like many Pharisees, Nicodemus was a literal thinker, and didn't easily take to understanding the words of the Savior. Nevertheless, he traveled to Jesus under the cover of nightfall to pay his respects, saying that "no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus was perplexed by what must have seemed like crazy talk. How often in our lives do we hear the counsel of inspired leaders, and treat it as naught? How often do warnings, exhortations, or special instructions come unto us, but because we are not attuned, we do not understand the semantic AND holistic subtleties?

It is my hope that we may seek after the Spirit, that we may come to recognize metaphors for what they mean, counsel for what it weighs, and the Savior for who He truly is. I also hope that we may, through the Spirit, understand our own natures, and that we are meant to be perfect, even as Heavenly Father and his Son are.

Have a great week!