Reverence

God loves you.

He knows you.

He is aware of your trials, hardships, and challenges.

He wants to be near you.

He wants not only to show you His love but for you to see His love in your life.

As mortals, living imperfect lives in this very temporal world, it can be a frequent challenge to remember that we are children of God. That we have the ability to commune with holiness, to experience sacred things.

In the April 2012 General Conference Elder Paul Pieper spoke “With respect to that which we received by the Spirit, the Lord said, ‘Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred’…Light and knowledge from heaven is sacred. It is sacred because heaven is its source. Sacred means worthy of [reverence] and respect.” We are reminded in Come Follow Me this week that sacred things should be treated with reverence.

As the primary song teaches us, “Reverence is more than just quietly sitting”. My brain always happens to forget the entirety of that song except for that one sentence. It is often very difficult for me to pay attention. As a child, I found that even if I wasn’t paying attention, that at the very least I could look like I was paying attention and not get in trouble. I became VERY good at looking like I was focused in. Quietly sitting was something I could do. And if I’m being horribly honest, up a short time ago I gave very little thought to the possibility that reverence was anything more than that. Cause I don’t need one more thing to add to my list of things I “should” be doing.

Does anyone else have this subconscious checklist of all the things you feel like you’re supposed to be doing as a faithful member of the church, but are consistently not getting it all done?

I like the feeling of accomplishment I get from crossing things off of lists but even though I know the gospel isn’t a checklist…I have seen “Don’t make the gospel a checklist” be subconsciously added to my list of to do’s. I then find myself having thoughts such as “just another thing I’m not doing right” or “wow, I’m such a hypocrite”.

However, I am continually learning that those thoughts do not need to dictate my life.

My mindset is malleable and you can always teach an old dog new tricks.

I have been anxiously engaged in “getting the gospel done”. Elder Bednar has said “In our customary church vocabulary, we often speak of going to church, going to the temple, and going on a mission. Let me be so bold as to suggest that our rather routine emphasis on going misses the mark.” Instead of communing with God, we speak of ‘getting a chapter done in the scriptures, saying a prayer, or doing a session.

In what ways might this kind of language inadvertently change what we’re actually hoping to experience?

After all, aren’t we here to gain experience?

To gain wisdom and understanding?

And to experience and build a relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ?

If we were to boil it all down to a basic skill or mindset, what would be the answer here?

If I can’t check my spiritual vitality by using a checklist…what am I supposed to do!? 

Let me tell you about what Elder Soares referred to as “the greatest manifestation of a vital spiritual quality; … a byproduct of our connection to holiness and reflects in our love for and proximity to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. It is also one of the MOST elevated experiences of the soul…in fact…[it] is not just an aspect of spirituality; IT IS THE ESSENCE OF IT—the FOUNDATION upon which spirituality is built, creating a personal connection to the divine…” What he’s talking about here is REVERENCE. But not reverence as I thought it to be as a child and into my adult years.

Reverence from its foundation means awe-inspiring, to adore, honor, respect, and to stand in awe of.

When was the last time you were in awe?

What did it feel like?

I feel awe in my heart. It feels like a swelling of my spirit. A huge peaceful, exciting, airy and lightening feeling of love and joy. Sometimes I cry when I am in awe. To me, feeling awe brings me closer to the divine. It connects me to God, through my Savior. It is tender and merciful. Hopeful and strong.

I love that feeling.

That feeling is also reverence.

Quietly sitting can be an external effect of the feeling of reverence, or even a preparation for it. But reverence at its core is something we feel. It is inviting God to be with you. Through prayer, meditation, pondering, or mindfulness. It is showing respect and adoration and honor for the sacred. ‘Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred’ Light and knowledge from heaven is sacred.

Elder Pieper said, “Sacred means worthy of veneration and respect. By designating something as sacred, the Lord signals that it is of higher value and priority than other things.”

Elder Soares relays that “we are invited to cultivate the gift of reverence in our lives in order to open ourselves to a deeper communion with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, simultaneously strengthening our spiritual character.”

How can we invite reverence, respect, and awe in our lives for what comes from heaven?

Elder Boyd K Packer illustrated, “Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings. Such words as quiet, still, peacable, comforter abound in the scriptures. Be still and know that I am God. And the promise, you shall receive my Spirit, the holy ghost, even the comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom.”

Now before you write this off because you lack “peaceful settings” in your life…I want to share another experience. Last year I had recently changed my major to mental health and wellness and I knew, while Mike was living and working in Alabama, that I would need to use all I was learning firsthand in order to manage my ADHD, anxiety, and combat my tendencies for depression. In the ensuing months I experienced more emergencies, diagnoses, heartaches, and uncertain times than in our last nearly 15 years of marriage. I can also say, with extreme confidence and divine conviction, that it was an extremely sacred time for me. I saw and felt more tender mercies, rays of light, and spiritual wholeness than ever before.

Every person I interacted with became a minister to me and my family.

I accepted help from those around me and prayed in gratitude for the ministering vigilantes that crossed my path.

I was able to find peaceful settings, even if just for a moment, because I was praying and looking for them. Not frantically, but with hope and faith, believing they would come.

I invited God to be with me, I invited His help.

I embraced the stillness, without worry for lack of productivity, realizing that Christ, during His earthy ministry, CREATED time to very clearly step away from the activity around Him to find calm. Luke wrote that this kind of retreat to secluded places is something Jesus “often” did (luke 5:16). He did so before He began His ministry, before He made important decisions, while He was dealing with emotions like grief, and when the constant demands of His ministry swelled, He cared for His soul. It is how He prepared for Garden of Gethsemane and His death on the cross. Some of the most important parts of Jesus’s ministry involved stepping away to find space to commune. Instead of repeatedly pushing himself to exhaustion, being constantly in pursuit of doing…Christ took time for stillness, meditation, pondering, and prayer with God. This type of tender intimacy with God enables us to feel the restorative peace of reverence in such places as our sacrament meetings, while partaking of the sacred emblems that symbolize our need for our Savior. “Remember that which cometh from above is sacred.” 

The stillness and quiet that we seek during the preparation, blessing, and passing of the sacrament can remind us that God is able to make us holy.

But it is only from within our control that we can choose to have a reverence, regard, respect, adoration, honor, and stand in awe of that which is sacred.

Reverence for sacred and holy things opens the door for the potential to become like God.

Reverence is the foundation for all spirituality.

Reverence connects you to your Divine identity.

It brings you closer to God.

It allows room for revelation.

Elder Soares said, “Reverence for the sacred fosters genuine gratitude, expands true happiness, leads our minds to revelation, and brings greater joy to our lives. It places our feet on holy ground and lifts our hearts to Deity…as we strive to incorporate such virtue into our daily lives, we will be able to increase our humility, expand our understanding of God’s will for us, and strengthen our confidence in the promises of the covenants we have made with the Lord…we will be filled with astounding amazement and awe as we connect to the perfect love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”

**This blog post was taken from a talk I gave in church. I mainly used resources from the churchofjesuschrist.org website and the book "The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints" (excellent book btw)