An elderly man was sharing his testimony in church regarding the Holy Ghost and spoke of Him in a way that I really hadn’t contemplated before. He said that he was grateful to Heavenly Father for all of the blessings that he and his family had been granted. He was grateful to the Savior for His atoning sacrifice. Then he said, what I thought to be a remarkable thing, “and I am especially grateful to my friend, the Holy Ghost, and for his comforting companionship to me all during my life.” One of the names of the Holy ghost is the Comforter, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” ( John 14:16)
That very personal description of this man’s relationship to the Holy Ghost made me wonder whether or not I had ever considered calling him my friend, or whether I had ever thought of Him in a similar light. I realized that maybe I had probably not nurtured the kind of relationship with the Holy Ghost that I might have enjoyed all of these years since joining the church.
Some people live such worthy lives that the Holy Ghost can and does abide with them on a continuous bases. I believe, however, that most of us live such that our spirituality would mimic cyclical waves. We have days or periods of time where we may feel intensely spiritual and our behavior is saintly as well. Then we may have days or periods that we feel spiritually cool and may behave the same, by being less than saintly. These less than saintly periods, would be periods when the Holy Ghost would not be abiding with us.
I recall many times in my life when I felt inadequate in respect to the task or tasks that I had been assigned, whether it was as a graduate student, as a university administrator, as a husband or father, or any one of many church assignments. These were times that I prayed for the Holy Ghost to come to my aid for I was aware of His unique abilities as mentioned in the following scripture “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” ( John 14:26)
Why I thought that I should seek His companionship only when I needed His help. That is the question I ask myself now. Maybe, had I the mindset to think of Him as a friend all these years, then I, too, may have recognized Him as a friend. Maybe then the cyclical behavior in my life would have been less variable.
I have learned, over the years, how to measure my spirituality. The Holy Ghost will not dwell with one who is doing or thinking unholy thoughts. We can all know when we are being touched by the Holy Ghost because what we are seeing, hearing or feeling will make our hearts swell and/or bring tears to our eyes. We will feel the truth of what is said or done. If those feelings do not come to me, frequently, I know I am not living as close to the spirit as I should be. It’s time to start praying more fervently.
A new convert describes her initial experience with the Holy Ghost this way; “It is like an incandescent light that gave off warmth, but I had to recognize it. Sometimes that feeling of warmth comes unexpectedly; at other times, it comes when I feel stressed, panicked, uncertain. I have come to know that this light is the Holy Ghost, and that I must fuel the light with prayer, scripture reading, and obedience.” The warmth she describes is the warmth that swells up in your breast and triggers the tear ducts to open.
Most of us do not realize the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives, “This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom,” (D&C 88:4). If only we could start in our youth knowing and understanding who He is and that we could have Him as ‘our friend.’ Then, maybe, He would be a constant companion. A companion to be with us all of our lives, guiding us and bringing all things to our remembrance. May God bless us to better understand the possibility that we, too, might testify one day that we are grateful to our friend, the Holy Ghost for abiding with us and comforting us all of our lives.