Sealing Power: The Process of being Preserved

Photos taken yesterday after canning peaches on September 26, 2010

.........................

Many of us are familiar with Elder David Bednar's conference talk on the "pickles". It is worth a second read. It is entitled "Ye Must Be Born Again". He talked about 5 steps: Preparing, Cleansing, Immersing, Saturating and then Sealing. Here is the link: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-690-8,00.html

.

I wanted to briefly share a couple of more insights on the process of becoming purified/preserved and then "sealed" that I learned from canning peaches.

The process to preserving the peach begins long before the very last step of "canning". For example: A seed was planted, a tree grew and through consistent nourishment, light from the sun, living water and fertile ground, the tree was ready to bear fruit....Then over the spring to fall growing cycle... a peach grew and ripened. Unfortunately, due to the storms, winds, and bird/ insects... many of the peaches fell to the ground, bruised, rotten and unusable. Thus, a process of selection was necessary to bring the right peaches to the canning process... a division had occured and not all of the peaches which had the potential to be preserved... can or will be sealed.

Continuing on, the chosen peach is washed, immersed in hot boiling water in order for the outer layer to be removed exposing the inner. The peach then looks like a "new creature". The peach is then cut in half (symbolic of a covenant meaning to "to cut"). In this cutting process, areas of the peach that were bruised, or blemished were cut away by gentle the hands of "the Master". This was a "messy" and more difficult part. The peaches are then placed in a purified/santitized vessel and then a preserving liquid mixture is then pour over them. (similar to an annointing). A lid is then placed on top of the bottle in preparation for it to be sealed so no air or other contaminating element can enter. The vessels are then placed warm water not yet boiling to make sure the bottle does not crack. Water is then brought to a boil and which changes from a liquid to a "gas".. when it begins to steam. Purification and Refining leads to the vessel being sealed.

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." Helaman 3:35