What you can't see matters more than what you can!

This isn't a post about germs.  Though germs are important things that you can't see.  I have a lot to say about germs.... another day.  What I'm going to describe to you is so fundamental but sometimes difficult to comprehend in a world that is so saturated and dependent on visual images and sound experiences.  I am going to start by telling you something that happened a few weeks ago.

I had the opportunity to attend church services in a language I don't understand.  This was a first for me.  The first speaker appeared to do a fine job.  She smiled and was well prepared. The second speaker was nervous and halting as she began.  Several minutes into her talk I felt a warm peaceful feeling come over me.  When she finished two men were called forward to share their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The first man spoke confidently.  I felt nothing.  My attention even wandered.  The second man arose to speak.  He also spoke confidently.  I understood nothing that these two men said.  But while the second man spoke my heart swelled inside of me.  Tears came to my eyes.  I felt a warmth burning in my bosom.  What was the unseen thing that mattered more than anything I saw or heard?  The Spirit of God.  He is called the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the third member of the Godhead.  He is real.  His influence matters more than anything I can see.  Oh how I wish I was able to recognize and understand Him easily when I understand and interpret the other stimuli around me and am tempted to rely on it more.

I can tell you a dozen stories of opportunities lost and tragedy acquired when I didn't respond to the nudging and calling of the Spirit of Truth. I can also tell you dozens of experiences I've been blessed with when I have listened and followed with application.  What does your gut feeling say to you?  What thoughts come into your mind and heart that urge you to action or open your mind to understanding?  "By the power of the Holy Ghost ye many know the truth of all things."  Even things you can not see or hear.  This matters more to me than anything I can see with my eyes.

lesson learned after 20 years

I was hanging towels in my bathroom and was bowled over by a flash of insight.  This involves a flashback, so hold on tight.  Years ago my mother in law, your grandma, used to visit us once a year.  We lived a thousand miles a way and grandma and grandpa would make the long drive and spend a week or more visiting us.  The first thing grandma did when she set down her purse and hugged everyone was to roll up her sleeves and start doing my housework.  I realize now I should have been grateful.  What mother of 5 small little children couldn't use a hand?! Right? In the moment I felt angry and embarrassed.  I thought her focusing the whole visit on cleaning my house was a commentary on my skill as a wife and mother.  Instead of graciously accepting her help I struggled against her way of doing things and resented her advice.  One thing that drove me crazy was how she folded the towels.  I always folded them in squares.  Why?  I have no idea.  Habit...  My mother folds towels in squares... I believed they fit better in our tiny linen closet that way...  Whatever the reason, I resisted her tutorial on folding towels in thirds the certain way she folded towels.  I insisted that this was my laundry and I wanted it folded the way I wanted it folded. Period.  End of laundry lesson.

Flash forward to Thursday.  I took two SQUARE folded towels from the closet and took them to the bathroom where I unfolded them and then folded them in THIRDS so that two towels could fit on the towel rack side by side.  Under my breath I mused to myself, "I should fold these in thirds when I put them away so I don't have to refold them when I.... HEY!" A picture formed in my imagination of grandma and I sitting on our old denim futon folding towels and my jaw clenched stubbornly as she ignored my square folding preference that I had just explained to her.  Now I see her towel folding experience and wisdom.  It only took me 20 years to catch the vision of her genius!