Isaiah, chapter 61, teaches that through the Atonement of Christ the Lord can bring forth beauty from the ashes of our lives. As in all things, He teaches us these truths through symbols that are part of our everyday journey. I photographed the Las Vegas sunset at about 6pm three days ago. It was nearly dark outside. One photo was taken with normal exposure settings and the image was very dark without detail or color. But the image in this post was taken with a longer exposure of 30 seconds. This allowed the hidden gems of design and color in the sunset to become manifest. Indeed, the patience for setting up the longer exposure, and patience in digital processing, took this image from ashes to beauty. As we are patient in obedience to the Lord and as we allow Him to process our lives through trials and afflictions, He will indeed make the dark ashes of our lives beautiful, in this life and in the life to come.

Las Vegas Sunset Nov 5, 2015