1 Nephi 8:9

9 And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.

After praying for deliverance from the dark and dreary waste, Lehi is shown a large and spacious field. In other scripture the field represents the World (see Matthew 13:38; 1 Nephi 8:20, for example), which Lehi could not see before he prayed to essentially have the Light of Christ. After he received that light he was able to see the world (field). There are people who think that those who accept the Lord are not being realistic, that they are blinding themselves to the world around them, that faith is God is blind faith. I think the opposite is true. I think that through the light of Christ we can have a more clear view of what the world really is. We can not only see the problems, but we also see the love of God, as Lehi will describe in the next verse as a tree with desirable fruit. Whitout that light, all there is to the world is darkness and dreariness — no hope, no life. That’s a sad state to be in, and much less realistic that a life with Christ.