The Glory of God

Learning by faith and reason…it would seem that one would necessarily contradict the other. In my opinion, faith trumps reason when reason is skewered on mankind’s understanding; but this does not mean that the two cannot work together. When thinking of reason and faith, Oliver Cowdery comes to mind. In Docterine and Covenants section 9: 6-9, Oliver learns that he “must study it out in your (Oliver’s) mind; then you must ask me if it be right” (emphasis added). According to Heavenly Father, both reason and faith are necessary. Particularly when coming before the Lord with a question, it appears that it is necessary to reason it out first, and then exercise faith, with the assurance that we’ve done all we can, leaving the rest up to our Father in Heaven.
From what I’ve learned so far from readings and being on set, a lot of faith is required to get a project done. There are so many opportunities to fail that you almost have no choice but to hope and trust in God, or in something bigger than yourself, to get you through the project. So, apart from faith, living the Gospel allows you to live with more light. If, as it says in Doctrine and Covenants 93: “the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth”, how can we expect to spread any of these without the Gospel? The Gospel can only enhance the film and allow it to communicate through the Spirit, who is the best teacher. If God is the ultimate Creator, and we, as His children, are His work and His glory—which is also light and truth—our heritage is to work in creation, spreading God’s glory.
I was so impressed, enthralled and inspired by Jer3miah. It was incredible, first off, to view Mormon film that wasn’t practicing blatant didacticism, and was still able to convey the Spirit and allowed me to learn, from the Spirit, principles that I needed then. It was also wonderfully entertaining, clever, fun and intriguing. I don’t know if I can articulate how much I enjoyed it, but it certainly gave me hope for what Elder Ballard expressed in his talk. Elder Ballard’s desire for expanding our influence as LDS film makers, becoming experts in the field, and testifying of Christ in our work, in my opinion, was fully realized in Jer3miah.