Lehi's Dream

I read 1 Nephi 8 yesterday, which is an account of Lehi's dream. After reading it, I realized that I have always missed or ignored the entire point of the dream, according to the dreamer himself, Lehi. My image of the dream has always focused around the tree, the rod of iron, and the great and spacious building. Lehi's main preoccupation in the dream is Laman and Lemuel. The tree, the rod, the river are all secondary. The account of the dream is bookended by Lehi saying that his dream has made him considerably worried for Laman and Lemuel. We don't even get an interpretation of anything in the dream from Lehi, he just finishes by saying that Laman and Lemuel refused to partake of the fruit. And then he exhorts them with all the feeling of a tender parent. Lehi really sorrowed for his sons' rebelliousness.

On a somewhat related note, I heard a story on The Moth today about religion, and how religion (Christianity in particular) focuses primarily on healing, fixing, renewing, repenting, returning--healing the wounded soul. The narrator used to be a Christian, but became disenchanted, in part because she got tired of seeing everyone who was not Christian as broken or less than whole. It made me think. Do I look at people who aren't LDS in that way--in need of fixing? I don't think so, but I do frequently look at them as missing something. Perhaps it's presumptuous of me.