Best Friends

We talk a lot about the importance of family in the Church, and we should. Family is very important not only in this life but in the eternities. But as I was ready in the book of Ether this morning I was struck again with the importance of friends.

At the time of the tower of Babel when the language of all the people was changed, the brother of Jared first prayed that he and his brother’s language would not be confounded. And the Lord had compassion on them so that they could still communicate. But then Jared asked his brother to pray that the language of their friends would not be confounded and again the Lord answered his prayers so that they and their friends would retain the same language and be able to continue in their relationships.

This indicates to me that yes family relationships are important, but so are friendships. It is important that we cultivate and maintain strong friendships with people who share our common beliefs and will encourage and help us along the path of righteousness.

Longing For Something

When I was young my parents had a cabinet that contained a big box radio and a turn table for playing records. I spent hours in front of that cabinet listening to music and imagining the tiny people inside the cabinet making the music. In my mind I’d “watch” them dancing and singing and performing in beautiful costumes for hours at a time. But there was something going on besides the imaginative entertainment. There was something that drove me to listen and imagine in this way. At the time, I was very aware of the driving feeling, but I didn’t understand what it was.

It was years before I realized that the feeling was what I now call longing. Somehow my spirit longed for something it couldn’t see, knew that there was something out there besides what was tangible, and yearned for it. I didn’t express this to anyone for fear they’d think I was crazy, but the last few years I’ve come to the conclusion that most of us have felt these feelings in some way.

For me it is a testimony that our spirits existed before this mortal life. The part of us that is spirit remembers a realm we once lived in where time didn’t exist and remembers other things we once knew that are not visible or tangible in this mortal world. Deep down we know that there is another realm where we once lived with God and our spirits get “homesick” for that realm and create a longing in us to be back there. When the longing falls over us we usually don’t recognize or understand what is happening, but as people begin to watch for and recognize the feeling they realize what is happening and appreciate it for what it is.

Sometimes the longing happens when you see something beautiful in nature, or at the birth of a baby, or special moments with loved ones, or while reading a good book, or like me and the little people, when you imagine something extraordinary and deep inside the confirmation comes that extraordinary, metaphysical things were once part of your daily life.

What I’m trying to say here is that certain kinds of longing are actually spirit memories that are meant to connect us to God. When we recognize these feelings and let them work in us they are beautiful enticements to trust in Him so that we can return to Him.

PS I’d really like to hear of some of the moments that have created these spiritual feelings of longing in your lives. Please leave a comment and share.