What do you feel when the Holy Ghost speaks to your mind? To your heart? When was the last time you recognized a prompting from the Spirit? Why did the Lord cite the specific example of Moses parting the Red Sea, of all other possible examples, to describe the spirit of revelation? How urgently did he need revelation at that time? How urgently do you need it now? Do you seek heaven’s light? Open the curtains.
This painting, the 2nd in my series of Seminary Scripture Mastery scriptures, definitely needs to be seen in the light of the scripture upon which it is based. Doctrine & Covenants 8:2-3 reads: "Behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now behold, this is the spirit of revelation; this is the spirit by which Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground."
I believe this scripture and painting can teach some important truths about this exhibition’s theme, “Remembering the Great Things of God.” To remember God’s works and goodness in the way He would have us remember them, we must first come to know of their power and truth through the Holy Ghost. Mere cognitive knowledge, devoid of a witness from the Spirit, is insufficient to produce a lasting effect on the soul such as to cause one to truly remember as “great” the things God has done for someone in their own life, or in the lives of others.
When, however, the Spirit bears testimony to the mind and the heart of the truth and grandeur of God and His works, there comes a powerful and lasting impression, one that, nurtured and developed, can grow to become as powerful as the confidence Moses felt in the Lord by the time he reached the edge of the Red Sea so many years ago.
At that moment, when he and the children of Israel were seemingly trapped between the hosts of Pharaoh and the waters of the Red Sea, and when the children of Israel “were sore afraid”, I have to believe that Moses remembered the Lord’s great works up to that point, and the promises made to him personally, including the promise that he would be “made stronger than many waters” (Moses 1:25). There is the lesson for all of us today—that to remember such things in our times of need is to dispel doubt and fear, exercise faith, and invite the kind of revelation that will produce miracles in our lives. When the Lord instructed Moses to tell His people to “go forward”, I believe that remembering the great things of God gave him the kind of faith in Christ that prepared both his mind and his heart to receive the revelation to part the Red Sea and lead His people onward to the promised land.
The girl in this painting is studying the scriptures, and remembering the great things God has done for His children. The Holy Ghost, manifest in the painting as light, wind, and fire, dramatically fills her mind and heart, the same as it did for Moses. We when feeling the Spirit do not usually experience the outward drama of these symbols—fire, wind, or bright light. Inwardly, however, the Spirit’s influence does feel uniquely warm, enlightening, and moving. We should all feel the Spirit bearing witness of Christ and His wondrous works as we study the scriptures, ponder, pray, and in all endeavors, remember the great things of God.
I would simply say additionally that much prayer, work, and indeed revelation and guidance went into this painting and came from it. I, by simply looking at it, can remember "the great things of God" as they have been manifest to me recently in my own life. I suppose that this alone means my efforts have not been in vain.
The painting has taken months to complete. The concept in general was quite given to me as a sudden rush of ideas culminating in an image that was then refined to become what it is now. I used two models that are both shining examples to me of members of the Church who live their lives according to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was all painted in the somewhat crowded oil painting room of Brigham Young University-Idaho’s Spori building. I am indebted to the help and counsel of many able teachers and students there, and of course I am ultimately indebted to God and His grace.
That's the chief lesson I learned while doing this painting—how utterly weak I am alone, how insufficient any work is without “The Touch of the Master’s Hand”. I have yearned for years to paint something that will really inspire members of the Church, and felt so deficient for so long because of a lack of sufficient training in representing the figure, in controlling oil paint, in color and design and composition. Since I have been working harder at those things, and trusting the Lord while moving forward, I have been getting better at speaking the language of art. I know that it is a gift from Him. Without question I know that, in my experience creating this painting, as in life in general, “it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23).
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