Seeing: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants

The Doctrine and Covenants includes an invitation to develop an eye single to the glory of God. A volume from the Maxwell Institute’s Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series looks at what this means and how it can be accomplished. It also examines various ways sight can serve as a devotional tool. For instance, the book offers strategies for managing visual distractions like social media and explains how pornography prevents seeing others as God does. In this interview, author Mason Allred discusses his new book, Seeing.

How were you chosen as an author?

I was invited to join the group a few years back when it was Spencer Fluhman and Kate Holbrook editing the series. They just asked me if there was a topic or theme in the Doctrine and Covenants I might be interested in exploring. I was excited by the idea and the opportunity to work with them and the other authors on the series.

How can reading the Doctrine and Covenants be like using a seer stone?

A seer stone in Joseph Smith’s hands was a screen and portal to new revelations, translations, insights, and restorations of things lost. Our reading of the Doctrine and Covenants might have echoes of these effects.

Because surface events are happening—and literal words on a page—the Doctrine and Covenants offers us a chance to use these surface elements to see deeper. I think many of us have had the experience of that surface becoming a lens into something revelatory, even personally relevant.

I like taking scriptures at face value and also exploring them in any and all directions they might invite us to pursue. That revelatory potential is especially pronounced in a more recent series of revelations, which contain several promises that we will see God and include some instructions and hints on how to pull this off.

What is embodied vision?

Embodied vision means recognizing the ways our eyes are really never completely separate or divorced from the rest of our body.

We often see with our whole bodies—or at least certain parts that support and enrich our vision. Tapping into that material aspect of vision is a beautiful kernel from Latter-day Saint doctrine, which takes the body very seriously and sees us developing our use of a body to become like God, who himself has a perfected body.

If we are trying to get our eyes single to the glory of God, I believe it entails more than just our eyes. It means linking feelings, sensory inputs, and embodied action with what we look at and how we look at things. I think this kind of full-bodied pursuit of truth would result in getting our whole bodies full of light.

How can boredom affect our vision?

Boredom, or perhaps even more precisely, laziness and passive looking, can affect our vision adversely. We can become conditioned to see things in a distorted and destructive way.

If we’re not deliberate in how we approach visionary practices, we may unconsciously adopt passive ways of seeing that reinforce objectification, pride, and division.

This dulled spiritual vision can also result in personal feelings of despair, loneliness, and depression. We lose focus on the interconnected nature of all God’s creation. We don’t recognize the Lord’s hand at work. We miss the beauty and power of everyday living. We tend to retreat from enriching natural visions into manufactured images meant to stimulate or distract us from what matters most.

What does it mean to convert surface into depth?

Converting surface into depth means taking surface content, appearance, and ideas seriously. It means respecting the power of what’s on the surface—for good or evil.

But then we must look through these surfaces for the effects, intentions, and myriad possibilities they can provoke. It means considering where the surface comes from and what it leads to. It means being open to deep realizations of what you might learn from that surface if you are willing to go “through” it.

Examples might be a passage of scripture, someone’s post on social media, or home movie footage. Any and all of these can be seen for what they are “on the surface.” But they also offer an opportunity to see them on a deeper level—one that will likely inform decisions of how to engage with this surface or to leave it behind and move on. It means being open to the experience of learning and making visionary decisions based not only on what you look at but also on how you “see” it.

When we learn to see deeply, our engagement with the surface empowers us to engage with the world and others in better ways, with renewed conviction and commitment to true principles.

What’s an example of converting surface into depth?

This process often involves taking something familiar and viewing it through a new lens, uncovering layers of meaning that weren’t immediately apparent. Several examples come to mind:

Reading a scripture and gaining a new insight or interpretation.
Looking at a leaf and considering its genealogy and interconnectedness to a greater plant, world, and plan of salvation.
Watching a movie and having new thoughts or feelings you would never have had on your own.

All these moments take a literal surface (words on a page, the appearance of a leaf, or 2d images in sequence) and work through that surface toward unprecedented and poignant depth.

How can we take charge of our vision when surrounded by the imaginations of others?

This is really hard to do. Increasingly, we give more and more of our vision to algorithms and content creators. We let them tell us where to look and how to see. We are fed suggestions and others’ perspectives from all over.

But we aren’t powerless. We can proactively take charge of our vision. We can learn how to sift through the noise by using our minds and bodies to support our eyes.

Imagining the Restoration Through the Eyes of Emma Smith

Looking with our whole heart, might, mind, and strength requires mental effort to truly consider what we are taking in visually. It means actively reflecting on or even resisting certain perceptions of others while still recognizing them as children of God.

Always ask yourself:

Where is this image leading me?
What does this vision of another reveal or hide?
What might be missing?
Who benefits from this way of seeing, and who might it harm?

How do Joseph Smith’s early visions suggest we can hone our vision through natural sight?

Several sections in the Doctrine and Covenants show Joseph Smith moving from learning to see something in the physical world to experiencing amazing supernatural visions. Similarly, how we read scripture, how we look at nature (like Joseph in his 1832 account of the First Vision), and how we look at others all involve natural sight.

But training your eyes to see things as they really are might mean looking to understand the purpose and joy of this life. This often leads to revelatory confirmation and even deeper insights.

What can we learn if D&C 6:37 doesn’t refer to a vision of Christ?

Some think that the wording in Doctrine and Covenants 6:37 infers that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery experienced a personal vision of Christ (e.g., “Behold the wounds which pierced my side”). While that’s a beautiful thought, there are also powerful lessons we can learn if the verse doesn’t refer to a visual manifestation.

For example, the Savior’s words teach us to “behold” (to “see” and “hold”) his atonement and resurrection with our mind’s eye. “Behold” is such a great word because it contains kernels of both seeing and holding. It can mean literally looking at something—or it can refer to conjuring up and considering something in your mind. It can even mean physically holding something. The word comes from Old English and Germanic meanings of thoroughly holding (today, we might say “retaining” or “firmly grasping”).

Think of what it would mean if we read D&C 6:37 as an invitation from Christ to “’firmly grasp’ the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet.”

It suggests something remarkable: that one day we might physically grasp His wounds with our hands, but for now, in this life, we are invited to firmly grasp—fully understand and retain in our hearts and minds—the meaning, purpose, and power of His atonement.

Does Atonement Theory Matter to Latter-day Saints?

Why do you say Oliver Cowdery’s body was as important as his eyes?

Oliver Cowdery was commanded to pay attention to his feelings as he learned to bridle—and even liberate—his body in revelatory ways. He had prior experiences seeking answers with a divining rod, which required patient attention to his arms and a sensitivity to the feelings guiding him.

Now, he was learning to focus on a strange, indecipherable surface—whether a seer stone, gold plates, or blank pages for transcription—and to listen to his body to discern truth and direction.

This process must have been both anxiety-inducing and uncomfortable, as we know fear sometimes got in the way. Yet the Lord instructed Oliver to listen to both his mind and heart, promising that the Spirit would dwell in his heart.

How do you listen to your heart and mind? It might involve imagined words, but for Oliver—and many of us—it’s often about learning to respect and recognize the feelings that come: the “burning bosom,” goosebumps, tears, or the sensation of light pouring into your body. It’s hard to put into words what the Lord was teaching Oliver. But if you know, you know. It’s one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had, even if only a few times.

How is seeing connected to our weaknesses in D&C 66?

In this example, the Lord fulfills his promise to show William McLellin what displeases him—and what he wants with McLellin. Learning to start seeing how the Lord describes in the Doctrine and Covenants means becoming sanctified and changing our nature.

An important part of the process is directing this probing vision toward ourselves. We need to learn to see into ourselves with devastating clarity.

The Lord will make our weaknesses visible to show us how to become what we should be. Developing as a disciple requires knowing what and how to change. Seeing what’s personally wrong is sometimes crushing but also a blessing. It is a visionary gift to be given such demonstrative instruction on how to develop into more godly disciples.

How do we often see things not as they are but as we are?

We can hardly get around the fact that we only notice and understand (or “see”) what we allow ourselves to. Our cultural training and habits screen out entire sights or insights that we might desperately need to develop. We should learn to be more self-aware and try to overcome these blinders.

How can hearing the voice of the Lord in the Doctrine & Covenants lead to seeing Him?

It is often the case that we hear him when we read scriptures. Or we are at least invited to hear and hearken to his word. This is often a precursor to actually seeing him, whether that is a literal theophany like Joseph Smith had after reading in the Bible or we see him as manifested in other ways.

Why does Christ want us to see Him through other people?

The way to serve Christ is to serve others. He often blesses us through others, who come to our rescue as living angels. It is also possible that we will come to see the Lord—that is, recognize and better understand his nature—by learning to see others in a gospel light of true love.

That kind of loving gaze is transformative. It transforms the person in our eyes (they change from our point of view), but we also change when we learn to see like that.

How might we see ourselves differently if we see ourselves like God?

We must learn to become comfortable with being seen—truly seen—by heavenly parents. To learn that God sees you means that he is omniscient and sees all. He knows us perfectly. That can be oppressive or scary, but if we are thinking of it in the right mindset, it should be comforting and encouraging.

He sees us perfectly—and with perfect love. He could never fully love us without fully seeing us. We should want to be seen.

Truly seeing and understanding others is incredibly difficult because we don’t always know what they’re going through or what’s happening in their lives. However, when we let love guide our perspective, it becomes the key to seeing others more like how God sees us.

What might you have included if you had an extra chapter in the book?

I hesitated to be too prescriptive in Seeing: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants. I wanted each reader—no matter their country, circumstances, or understanding—to come away with their own personal applications of these principles.

If I were to add a final chapter, it would be a workbook with pages designed to guide and document specific practices of seeing. It might invite you to choose a person, a beach, a neighborhood, a plant, a movie, a pet, a scripture—any surface—and then follow a step-by-step process to see what happens as you seek to transform it into depth.

You would explore what it offers in love, teachings, and wisdom. I hope that people will naturally begin this practice and discover just how connected we are to the world, grounding us in an eternal plan that centers on supporting light, truth, love, and the life of all things.

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About the Interview Participant

Mason Kamana Allred is the author of Seeing: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants, published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in German Literature and Culture with a Designated Emphasis in Film and Media Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Allred is an Associate Professor at BYU-Hawaii and has authored or edited several related works, including Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader (Oxford University Press), Seeing Things: Technologies of Vision and the Making of Mormonism (University of North Carolina Press), and “Circulating Specters: Mormon Reading Networks, Vision, and Optical Media” (Journal of the American Academy of Religion).