SEEKING AN AUDIENCE WITH THE LORD

I have shared how I have openly at a baptism service after bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost (the First Comforter), have then given the admonition in the blessing to obtain it and then use it to find their way to the Second Comforter (which admittedly I can only give as a theoretical practice - as I have not gotten there).  If I were to get there, I would have a hard time not keeping it private as I am an open book.  Which fact, is not lost on my wife who says I should be more discreet more of the time with things of a spiritual nature.

I find that there is so little said about things of a spiritual nature, that I find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum - blathering day and night about them to offset the imbalance - similar to that blind date with that shy girl back in the day......  Not because I am trying to set myself up as some beacon, but precisely because I want others to know that we should EXPECT these kinds of things in our lives if we are "getting it right".  Not perfectly - otherwise, my life would be devoid of them, precisely because I am among the vilest of sinners (just ask my wife) - but because we can still fall short, repent, and look to God and live - all while enjoying some of these higher blessings. The more repentant our attitude is, the more broken we are, the more the Lord can use us.

So, this Second Comforter is a tricky thing.  The minute you put your hand to the plow, you will experience insane buffetings.  My wife and I did (expressed our interest to the Lord about this very gift) about one year ago and are still picking up the pieces from that life event.  God will not give anything easily - simply because He want you to want it to the point that you will (at least be willing to) give up all in order to obtain it (to give sell all that you have, so to speak, in order to obtain that pearl of great price).  He wants you to knock, seek, seek some more and strive until it is finally opened to you.  This is by design, in order that you will not seek and obtain that which you ought not have without having paid your due diligence.  A man that is given a gift without truly deserving it, will not treasure it.  I have seen it over and over in my journey as a parent - kids being ungrateful for what is merely handed to them without thought as to the sacrifice that was made to bring that about.  As parents, we now have our kids earn everything - including things like co-pays to the doctor for the "oops" when they were goofing around and needed physical therapy to counteract the effects of goofing around.  One hundred percent true accidents, not so much.  Theoretically, this makes them more responsible adults.

So, I once heard from a very wise person that I was right all along about seeking out this Second Comforter - that we should focus on seeking or attuning ourselves more closely with the First Comforter and the rest will take care of itself over time as we are led to a personal audience with the Savior.  I suppose it would be more of a natural thing - kind of like falling in love naturally over time with your best friend, as opposed to that relationship where you constantly are doing back-flips and conniving to make it work.

Here is more on the subject from the unBlog My Soul site.  There are many there who offer encouragement to keep pushing forward to the tree, so to speak:

http://unblogmysoul.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/seeking-your-audience-with-the-lord-part-2/