Flashy and dramatic

Growing up, I always thought getting the gift of speaking in tongues or the interpretation of tongues would be so cool.

As a completely monolingual individual, the idea of being able to suddenly speak or understand a different language seemed… pretty cool, to be honest.

The idea of something suddenly happening that is super cool, super unique, or completely baffling is an appeal to many people.

But as I’ve matured a bit, I’ve realized that when it comes to spiritual gifts from God…

I need to be okay with the simple.

Many of the early Saints were promised spiritual gifts as they started to preach the gospel.

I’m going to guess gifts like knowing what to teach, bearing powerful testimony, receiving little promptings, discernment…

And yet they seemed to latch on to the weird. The unique. The flashy.

The Lord kindly reprimanded many of them by asking:

“Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained? To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.” D&C 50:13-14

And then the reprimand:

“And then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified?” D&C 50:15

They were seeking after the strange and the unclear.

I think that our spiritual gifts are meant to make sense. To be the most simple solution in any given situation.

Elder Gong told a story of a Spanish language interpreter who told him that he knew what Elder Gong was going to say by the spirit so that he could communicate effectively with the people he was translating for.

THAT was a time where the gift of tongues was actually appropriate and simple. A simple but miraculous boost of his efforts.

But when we look for gifts or talents or explanations that are unnecessary, over-the-top, or selfish, we are looking beyond the mark.

The Spirit may speak to us in quiet, simple, and straightforward ways.

And that’s totally okay.

Being dramatic is not a requisite for a righteous, spiritual experience.

And so I’m going to be okay with the simple.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black