Crickets in the City

One night a month or so ago, our family was driving down State street.  The windows were down, we were all chatting, sounds of the street were coming through, the radio may have even been on.  Out of nowhere, Greta piped up "Where are the crickets?"  As I stopped my conversation and payed attention, I could hear crickets as well.  A busy street in the city seems like an odd place for crickets, but they were there, loud and clear.  It reminded me that often listening to the Spirit is the same way. The Spirit is drowned out by commotion.  Too often I fall into that trap.  I really enjoyed the article called Opening our Hearts to Revelation by Elder Patrick Kearon in the August 2013 Ensign.  Here are some highlights for me:

We must be selective in the messages we choose to receive. It is vital to our spiritual well-being that we not consume so much of our time receiving good messages that we make ourselves unavailable to receive the best messages.2

To return safely to our eternal home, we must remain in constant communication with our Heavenly Father. If we place barriers between ourselves and the source of that critical communication—revelation—we will be unable to receive the messages of guidance we need from Him.

We may not know we are doing it, but occasionally we cut ourselves off from divine communication when our hearts become overburdened by the worries, pressures, irritations, and deadlines of daily life. Our hearts can become blocked from the peace and comfort the Lord would give us if we are too troubled and concerned. When we stay up too late and work too hard in order to meet our daily demands, fatigue sets in, we become overtired, and the world looks like a much gloomier place; things get out of perspective and out of proportion.

As with so much in life, what we consume is a choice, so if you spend much of your time consuming one kind of message, don’t be surprised that you become influenced by it. Spending too much of our time with social media, celebrity or entertainment news, games, and the pursuit of online, time-hungry activities constitutes a poor digital diet. When we choose to consume the attitudes and opinions of the mass media, we find our own values and viewpoints following suit. We tell ourselves we’re not being affected by these messages, but that is not possible.

Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?”4

The most important message any of us could receive or carry is a reminder of who we are and how we are loved by our Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

I know I'm not quite where I need to be to achieve "constant communication with our Heavenly Father", but I'm so very thankful for the times I've been blessed with this sacred communication.  When I'm in that mode, I have such a greater sense of purpose, identity and love from Heavenly sources.  It brings such calm and peace into my life.  I'm going to work harder to listen to the crickets in the noisy city.