Some time ago I had the pleasure of joining the BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singers on their annual tour. We traveled mostly north, visiting cities in Montana, and then heading west to the Seattle area, stopping at high schools and performance halls all along the way. While we stayed in Seattle, I had the privilege of visiting a retired American warship. In order to get to the dock where the ship was stationed for tourists to visit we had to travel by ferry. Being from the desert land of Utah I had never had occasion to travel on a ferry before. I spent much of the trip on the side deck of the boat watching the scenery as we moved quickly across the water.
A day or two earlier I had had a conversation with one of my good friends about the Holy Ghost and the influences of the world, and music in particular, on our ability to hear and understand the still small voice. I was pondering our conversation and my own thoughts about divine communication as I watched the reflection of the sun in the water. The day was a calm day, and the water looked like it would give us a smooth journey. As we traveled I noticed that some areas of the water's surface remained very smooth, while other areas of the surface were slightly agitated. In the calmest areas of the water, the reflection of the sun was a clear circle of pinpointed light, without much distortion. In the areas where the surface of the water was disturbed the light from the sun was refracted in a million different ways, leaving no clear image of the original source of light.
As I rested on the guardrail of the ferry looking into the water and pondering, I realized that what I was seeing in the water was analogous to what happens in our own lives. Many saints are much like the water we were crossing. A cursory glance at the conditions of the water, and all appears to be well. No large waves to be worried about, no storm clouds overhead to cause problems. All looks right and ideal for sailing. But while crossing the water, it was clear that not all was as calm and perfect as it appeared from a distance.
Members of Christ's restored church have the privilege of basking in the Light of the Holy Ghost. We enjoy its light and warmth, yet too often we permit the surface of our metaphorical water to be disturbed a little here and a little there, blurring the otherwise clear and direct influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We create ripples in our water by participating in off color conversations, listening to less than wholesome music and other media, being over zealous, or when we permit any of our vices, big or small, to continue to be a part of our lives. Even good things, like a positive song, can interfere with our ability to recognize and understand the light of the Holy Ghost. The Brethren have taught that music can "dull your spiritual sensitivity by its tempo, beat, loudness, lyrics, or intensity" (Missionary Handbook).
Take time today to pause a few times, and ask yourself, "Am I prepared to receive and understand light and instruction from the Holy Ghost? If He spoke now could I hear Him?" Are there things you need to quiet in order to create a condition of stillness in yourself?
Let us learn to live so that we may see the fulfillment of the promise that if ye "receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:5).
