What About the Eye-bone?

31 January 2017

There was a childhood anatomy song that taught how the body was all "connected".... shin bones connected to knees and knee bones connected to thighs, etc. and we sang from head to toe learning about the human body.    I always wondered, what are the eye-bones connected to?

The scriptures have often talked about the importance of seeing. We look to leaders to learn how they see the world.   We listen to and marvel at the apostles and prophet to catch a glimpse of not only what they see but how they see it.

 On an Asian Tour in May 1996, President Gordon B. Hinckley, a prophet of the Lord,  dedicated the new Hong Kong Temple, as well as, visit 13 other cities.   Three days after the temple dedication he was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.   Pockets of the Khmer Rouge were still taunting the country with its tyranny.  Pol Pot hadn't quite finished murdering, plundering, and stripping Cambodia of its goodness.  An Apostle of God and over 230 Saints stood behind the Cambodiana Hotel, on 29 May 1996, to dedicate the country to the opening of missionary work.  Today I stood where that meeting took place.  I wondered.... what did President Hinckley see that day?

Today I stood behind the Cambodiana Hotel.   I wanted to see what he saw.   Of course, in 1996 it was no more than an open field looking on the Mekong River.   Now there is a beautiful courtyard behind the hotel and a walkway for people to stroll up and down to enjoy Cambodia's beauty.

I would imagine that the stunning sunrise looked much the same.  There are some things in Cambodia that don't change.  By the looks of some of the fishing boats I would hasten to guess that some of them were there but now they are just manned by a families' next generation.  And there could have been single fishermen like this gentleman just looking for breakfast not understanding what was taking place above him.

Symbolically, the people in that congregation looked out where the Mekong River and Tonle Sap River meet.   This is where one of the great miracles of God takes place every year.   Every year this is where the Tonle Sap River experiences it's unique flow reversal.  One day it is flowing in one direction and the next day it is reversed!  Because of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Cambodia had not experienced any spirituality for 20 years but on this spot of ground a prophet of God blessed and dedicated this land for the opening of missionary work.  Cambodia was about to witness its own spiritual flow reversal!  

The Buddhist still have the lion's share of the people's attention but the Church is growing.  I was recently reminded of the ancient prophet, Nephi's, observation.
                  1 Nephi 14:12  "And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the
                  Lamb of God, and its numbers were FEW.....who were the saints of God,
                  (they) were also upon ALL the face of the earth..." (italics added)

We have 111 missionaries surging forward every day.   We are few in number but they are EVERYWHERE!   They are marvelous people and I have the greatest respect for them.   They seem to be able to see beyond the trash, the filth, and the awkwardness of the city's daily routines.   Like President Hinckley, the missionaries are able to see into the hearts of the people of Cambodia.   It is in Cambodia that I have learned that the eye-bone is connected to the heart-bone.    When your eyes and your heart become inseperately connected then you can understand and feel the love of Christ.