...With Sunglasses

I have received another challenge to relate the gospel of Jesus Christ to sunglasses. After a lot of careful consideration I came up with this. I hope my analogy appeases the challenger:

Sunglasses are nothing more than tinted glasses. The effect of sunglasses is that our eyes are overshadowed to the light, dimming, and sometimes even changing the colors of what we see around us. Christ has said "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12) Satan tries to deceive us. He overshadows our eyes, just like sunglasses, so that we can not see the true light, or the effects of the light. Until we take off the sunglasses, or disregard the temptations of Satan, we won't be able to see the beauty of the light of Christ.

...With Forget-Me-Nots

President Uchtdorf just this last weekend shared a small legend about the small Forget-Me-Not flowers. In Germany they say that just after God had finished naming each plant one was forgotten -- the Forget-Me-Not flower. In despair the flower cried out, "Forget me not, oh, Lord!" and that is how it got its name.

There is great significance in the simple Forget-Me-Nots. President Uchtdorf used its 5 small petals to remind us of 5 simple things:

1. Forget not to be patient with yourself. God is aware that we are not perfect. He is also aware that the people we think are perfect are not. Keep working on learning and growing, but stop punishing yourself for your imperfections.
2. Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice. We need to ask ourselves if we are committing ourselves to the best things.
3. Forget not to be happy now. If we are always looking forward to our expectations for the future we miss out on the joys of now and today. Don't put your happiness on hold while waiting for some future event. Discover and treasure the small daily moments.
4. Forget not the "Why" of the gospel. Sometimes we get caught up in "what" we need to do, or "how" we need to do it. We should not see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must somehow fit into our busy schedules. The gospel is not an obligation, it is a pathway. Don't get distracted by what we need to do, but focus on the fire of the "why". The "why" of the gospel transforms the mundane into the magestic.
5. Forget not that the Lord loves you. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you may feel your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you.