The title of this blog entry comes from a story that is probably more than 100 years old. And I am not the first one to use it to illustrate a point1, but it makes the point so well, and the application today is one that goes along with the hard times we face. We need the help that God will provide to anyone who asks. And I draw upon my own experience here to explain how it comes to us.
In God's plan for us, we are supposed to come to this Earth to make choices for ourselves2, and when we choose well we are rewarded. If we fail to choose well the consequences of the choice hold full sway in our lives. But God's plan included that we should be taught right from wrong. This is a good starting place. And we all feel it in the power of our conscience. This is also called the Light of Christ3. If we go against the light we feel darkened. If we follow the subtle prompting to do good it leads us on to additional promptings.4
I have learned that the purpose of the Light of Christ is to bring us to an even stronger source of truth. That source is the power of the Holy Ghost. I would explain the difference between the Light of Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost as one of degree rather than kind. Instead of the nice feeling when I choose well, the reward of the Holy Ghost has been to be led in a particular direction, toward the source of all truth. That source, of course, is God.
More specifically, it is Jesus Christ who is that source5. And the Holy Ghost has born witness of Him to me. As I have come to understand, I've realized that this slow and steady progression is described in the scriptures. The Lord gives us “line upon line, here a little and there a little”6, until we come to the bright day of full understanding of God's purpose for us as individuals.7
And now the promised story. In the days of the great sailing ships there was a ship traveling in the south Atlantic when it was becalmed and began to drift. After many days the fresh water ration was running out, and there were fears that all aboard would die of thirst. Then the wind picked up, but they were far from shore. There was no land in sight. Soon another ship appeared on the horizon. Using their flags, the first ship signaled, “Water! Send water!” The reply came, “Let down your bucket.” The second request attempted to clarify, “Water. We need fresh water.” The signaled reply was the same. As they drew closer, the ship's captain called to his counterpart, begging for water. The reply from the bridge of the second ship was, “Let down your bucket where you are. You are in the current of the great Amazon river.”
The thirsty ship's crew had no way to know that they were floating in fresh water from the mouth of the Amazon river, and yet it was all around them. I have been in their case, figuratively. I have been surrounded by the whispering of the Light of Christ, and not recognizing it as His influence, I have been adrift in this life hoping that an answer would come over the horizon.
One day my own opportunity to get a clearer message came in the form of such a sighting on the horizon. My brother brought home a book I had never seen, The Book of Mormon. When I saw it the Holy Ghost whispered, “This is the thing you've been looking for.”
My life's experiences over the 40 years since that day have led me to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and to have the privilege to hear His whispering every day of my life that I keep myself in tune to the messages. My wife and I study the scriptures and feel the calming presence of the Spirit in the midst of our troubles. We are guided to do things for the benefit of others and for ourselves that solve life’s daily problems and answer life's mysteries.
I know that if am lost in these troubled times I can pray for help. And because of the influence of the Light of Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost I have been led to a point where I know that I can let down my bucket right where I am. These principles apply to each of God's children. And I am a witness that these things are true.
Let down your bucket where you are.
1 See A. Theodore Tuttle, “Come Drink the Living Water,” Ensign, May 1975, p. 90;
President Hugh B. Brown, Conference Report, October 1962, General Priesthood Meeting p. 85;
Elder Charles A. Callis, Conference Report, October 1931, Second Day—Morning Meeting p. 67.
2 See Abraham 3:24-25
3 See Moroni 7:17-19
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