Narrow demands of our daily routine

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 1987 Conference.

In our scripture study a couple weeks ago, we talked about how "to be learned is good if [we] hearken to the counsels of God." I was thinking about that and realizing how strong my natural tendency is to want only the "new and interesting" when I'm learning. Often, when I'm reading and come across a scripture or quote I've heard many times, my eyes just skip right past it without even meaning to! I think it's good to search for new applications of truth, but I liked Elder Dean L. Larsen's advice about not forgetting the basic faith that should sustain us:

I think I will not want to stifle a wholesome appetite for learning, for reaching out to new levels of understanding. But as I push toward these new horizons, I will want to come back always to the circle of my established faith, and I will continually nourish that faith with a prayerful study of God’s revealed truths.

Here's another part I liked:

Too often we permit the narrow demands of our daily routine to dull our appreciation of the beauty of God’s creations and the refining influences that are all about us. We fail to experience the fulfillment that comes from developing the gifts and talents with which we have been endowed. We do not draw close enough to the Lord to know him and feel of his redeeming love.

My visiting teaching companion (back in the days of visiting teaching) used to often tell me about when she was a young mom feeling trapped by "the narrow demands of daily routine." She felt like all she ever did was drive her children back and forth. One day her husband told her, "Try taking a different way home." So she did. She started driving different routes every day and she said just that little change would lift her mood and make her appreciate her surroundings more. I think about that often, and try to find ways I can do something similar. I used to have an alarm on my phone around 4 p.m. that said "Go outside and look up!"—sometimes just that moment of seeing sky and breathing the fresh air was what I needed to make it through the rest of the evening.

Anyway, I should start doing something like that again, since I do often feel like the demands of daily life leave me so busy and focused on moving from one thing to the next that all I can think, at the end of the day, is "What just happened?" I want to be more aware and intentional about what I'm thinking and doing—where my spirit is—in the midst of the many things that HAVE to be done.

Other posts in this series:

In Righteousness, Guided by the Lord—Jan Tolman