My life is comprised of so many more dimensions than just work. Everything that happens in my world affects me, as events in your life impact you. So sometimes I feel the need to write something a little spiritual, and with this being Easter, it is one of those times.
Some may wonder if Heavenly Father really knows us individually, so that blessings are pertinent to us and our situation. I am only one out of over 108 billion spirit children estimated to have been born just on Earth out of the vastness of Father’s realm. We don’t know how many more are waiting their turn. This does not count the angels who were cast out of Heaven along with Lucifer (Revelation 12:7-9) and (Luke 10:18).
Father Knows Our Thoughts
Father does know us individually. He knows our thoughts, which is scary, especially when I’m ticked off about a particular situation or person. We can fib about things, the way some people don’t tell the truth to their ecclesiastical leaders and our life will be bitter if we continue down that road. But we can’t get away with lying to Heavenly Father. Sometimes we might have to just start over and tell Him what really happened.
Father Knows Our Feelings
Father also knows our feelings, especially when we’ve been deeply wounded. He knows when we are filled with indescribable Joy and he knows why we feel that way, even when we don’t know! He knows perfectly well what’s happening in our lives and in our world. But He wants us to talk to Him about it, the way most of us can talk to our earthly fathers. Perhaps we are now reading the scriptures more often or actually talking to Heavenly Father more often which can make things easier. Sometimes I think we slip into the equivalent of texting, complete with acronyms, as though Heavenly Father is supposed to know what ROFL means!
Actually, since Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ created everything, including computers and texting, He does understand! As brilliant as the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of the world are, they didn’t invent Apple products or PCs. Through talents they were given before they came to earth, they were granted the ability to discover how some of God’s creations work, a chance to taste of His genius.
Father knows our Fears
Heavenly Father also knows our fears. Bad days can be work-related or they can mean that we’re terrified of what’s going to happen next in our politically insane world. That fear is well-founded when a loose cannon is in charge of any nation. However, without getting deeply into LDS doctrine, if we stand in holy places, we do not need to fear what is going to happen next. If we continue to stay on Satan’s side, we’re on our own.
To me standing in holy places means IF you’re keeping God’s commandments, everywhere you are has the possibility of being a holy place while you are there! For example, when you leave your workplace, the holiness goes with you. It’s rather like the reverse of poor, sweet little Pig-Pen from the Charles Schulz cartoons, who travels with a cloud of dirt floating around him. In your case, you could be surrounded by a cloud of holiness, and I don’t mean that we should appear to be self-righteous or go into Holier than Thou mode. Not at all. If our spiritual eyes could see a cloud of holiness around everyone we meet, how blessed the world would be.
No matter how frightened we are on any given day, Father also knows what our individual fears are. Every one of us has our own little collection of fears clutched tightly in our hands that others mostly don’t know about. We have to talk to Father about them so He can reassure us and provide direction. I don’t remember now who did the study but the number one fear of women in this country is said to be that of becoming a bag lady. Homelessness carries with it terrible vulnerability to criminal actions by others.
Father Knows our Needs
Heavenly Father is always listening to our needs as well, spoken and unspoken. But it pleases him greatly if we talk to Him about those, too. If we don’t quite know how to word things, the Holy Ghost will help us if we just start. We need to get on our knees and say something. Maybe: Father, I need help with this now. I can’t handle it all any more. Or whatever else is going wrong for you.
We Are Never Alone
We are never alone, never, unless we’ve decided to walk away from Heavenly Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Ghost. But when you realize you can’t go it alone, all you have to do is turn around! Turn around, sister. Turn around, brother, and start walking back. Take that first step, and then another! Even if you sit down on the side of the road for a while, at least you’ll be facing the right direction. Father will see it and there will be someone along the way to help you. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are right there where you left them, all three waiting for your return.
Human Friends
Now, having said that, some things only a human friend can do for us, such as moving the refrigerator, dragging a fallen tree off our driveway, praying with us, or giving us a hug. That universal, deep need for appropriate, gentle human touch applies to all of us at any age. It’s a major loss when a loving spouse has died. It’s also well known that babies in orphanages and those people confined to nursing homes don’t thrive because overworked caregivers don’t have the time to hold them or cuddle them, or even talk to them.
We cannot allow that to happen in our own worlds. Hug your kids, hug your spouse, hug Grandma and Grandpa, be very kind to your pets and to all animals. That includes farm animals who are too often treated with horrible cruelty.
One last thing about human touch. It’s very sad that we need so many laws to protect our children but we have them. If any touch is not appropriate, it needs to be reported to a parent, grandparent, other teacher, the police or another trusted grownup. If we’re older and the touch is simply unwanted, the reaction will generally be swift.
We have so many blessings with access to however many more we need. Let’s remember the great goodness of our Father in Heaven who gave us the huge blessing of His Only Begotten Son who atoned for our sins and sorrows, so we can complete our journey Home if we repent.