Veneer and living on borrowed light

When I was on my mission as a young man in Germany we lived in a room in the Niehoff's home in Goslar. One day I needed to press my suit and borrowed an iron from our landlady. We did not have an ironing board, so we used the wood table in our room. In order to press out the wrinkles in the fabric, I used a damp cloth over the pants. This produced a small amount of steam. The pants looked nice, but when I removed the cloth under the pants, I was dismayed to find that the wood under the pants was buckled. The table was not solid wood. It was veneer. The glue that had held the veneer to the underlying wood had been softened by the heat and steam and as a result the thin layer of wood that made up the veneer had buckled, warped and cracked.

Veneer is usually used to cover wood with imperfections to make it appear as if it were top grade, high quality wood. Often it is now used to cover particleboard or pressed wood or plywood to give it the appearance of solid wood.

When we had our kitchen remodeled in our home in Lander, I wanted the cabinets made of solid oak and for some reason, the carpenters used particleboard with a red oak veneer. We had a number of the drawers later break down and have to be repaired, because the particle board broke down and would not hold the nail or screw.

You may ask, "What does that have to do with anything today?"  There are some members of the church who I call nominal members. They have been baptized and attend church. Some are active in their wards and attend the functions. Others have a hit or miss attitude. Some are completely disengaged. Some only attend at Easter and Christmas. These people wear the veneer of membership. As with the wood some veneer varies in thickness.  The pressure or heat that is required to strip away the veneer of discipleship varies much the same as with wood, but the strength and durability of this product is inferior to that of solid high quality wood.

Just like the members of the church, there are some woods that stand up to pressure, steam, heat and wear. Heber C. Kimball taught that there would be tests and trials come upon the saints in the latter days. He was quoted as saying that we would not be able to live on borrowed light. This means that if we did not have a testimony for ourselves that the church is true and are living the commandments, we will not be able to withstand the pressure, trials and temptations that will come when Satan will send forth his fiery darts and his shafts in the whirlwind.

Since I started this post there have been events that have occurred in the church that, like the pants pressing example above, have stripped the veneer off some members of the church exposing their friable testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They probably are much like the sower in the parable of Jesus. The seed was good when it was planted. The soil in which the seed was planted was the factor that made the difference in the outcome.

Trials and tests will come in this life. If we are solid in our testimony of Christ, as solid wood, then we will pass the test. If we are grounded and rooted in the gospel, then the seed planted in us will grow and be productive.

My dear grandchildren do not put on a veneer. Be solid wood. Do not let the heat that will come to divert you from the spirit of the Lord have any effect. Be good ground so the seed that is planted in you can grow to a tree springing up into eternal life.