Week 3, Day 4: Grapes

 

"The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeño pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit."

This morning I listened to this to this talk by Elder Richard G. Scott entitled "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance". I have always loved the comparison of the delicate flavor of a grape vs. the mightily overwhelming spice of the jalapeño. The grape does not stand a chance.

I was thinking about a little today while eating lunch. My sandwich had pepper jack cheese (my favorite) and between bites of sandwich, I also gave some quality to time to my carrots and grapes. Not surprisingly, the kick of the cheese overwhelms the rest of my food and spoils the softer flavors. Then at a dinner party tonight, my friend gave us a poll from her class about using headphones and hearing loss. I use headphones quite a bit, but I don't fear hearing loss, I fear Spirit-loss. How often am I doing something that keeps me from hearing the messages that the Lord would communicate to me? I said on that quiz that I use headphones three to four hours a day and it's true. I use them at work to listen to talks or music, most inspiring things... but then I have to wonder if I am missing messages just to have noise.

I don't really have an answer, but it's all something to think about. What are my jalepeños? Sometimes they're internal, strong emotions of anger, frustration, fear, jealousy. Sometimes they're external, with things like movies, music, media, choosing good things over the best things, and general busyness. The world teaches us to crave jalapeños because a grape is so lame, so subtle... but in the end, we'd all prefer grapes anyway, right? Just as jalapeños dull our tastebuds and make it hard to taste anything, so do jalapeño-esque things in life. A grape is sweet and gentle. I need to decide to lessen my jalapeño intake and seek to crave grapes instead. After all, I think that craving for grapes came with our spirits. It's a craving for Home.