Pulling Back The Veil
The word reveal comes from the Latin revelare, which is composed of the root word velum, which translates to veil, and the prefix re-, which in this case means to go backward or reverse. Essentially, the word reveal literally means to pull back the veil. We all passed through a Veil of forgetfulness when we were born into mortality. When we receive revelation, the Lord is helping us to pull back a part of the veil. Revelation is less about teaching us something new than it is about helping us to remember something old. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been inspired to write about some Spiritual topic and I will swear that I’ve already written exactly about that specific topic, but I’ll search through all of my posts and not find it. It’s because all revelation should feel familiar to us. It should feel like we are remembering a precious memory that we had assumed long lost. It might seem cruel to us for God to throw us on this Earth with no memory of anything that might help us to navigate all of the difficult paths in front of us. But the veil is there for our protection. Our fragile, tiny, little minds would shatter if they were inundated by all of the light and knowledge that would bombard us from every side if the veil were not there to hold back those memories until our hearts and our minds are big enough to receive them. But as we learn and grow from our experiences, and we can add line upon line as we pull back the veil inch by inch, we will be able to take in as much light and truth and knowledge as we can possibly bear. We’re not ready to pull the veil all the way back all at once, but we eventually will be. “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” (D&C 50:24). I know that the Spirit is bursting with excitement to help us remember so many great and marvelous things that we have forgotten for so long, and will help us to pull back that veil a little at a time until we can remember everything.
