Hear Him

In April of 2020 I wrote a song entitled “Hear Him.” We had just wrapped up listening to April General Conference sessions and the theme of “Hear Him” was everywhere.

At the same time, everyone was one month into the COVID pandemic. School was cancelled for the kids, I was “working from home,” and we were all a little unsure about the future.

At the time I had a job as a construction manager over a site of about 40 new residential homes under different phases of construction. New construction had just been deemed “non-essential” in the state of Washington, so my site was basically shut down.

As a construction manager with no construction to manage, my job felt pretty useless. For about a month I logged into a computer from home, participated in boring trainings and meetings related to construction, and once a day visited my job site to make sure everything was still locked up and in order. It was very odd to walk around an abandoned construction site. It was also very odd (although admittedly quite nice) to drive to work with no traffic. Everything was empty, quiet, and peaceful. It seemed like the loud and busy world around me had gone silent.

So with the world quieting down and General Conference of 2020 themed around “Hear Him,” it felt appropriate to write a song with the same message.

I’ll post the lyrics to the song at the end of this post for reference.

I often ask myself, what does it mean to “hear Him”? Does it mean I literally hear the voice of my Savior? Does it mean that I hear His voice in the scriptures I read? Maybe a specific passage that speaks to me? Is it not really a voice, but a feeling? Or maybe it is a voice, but maybe my own voice in my head? My own thoughts? Feelings? Impressions?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m sure the answer is different for nearly everyone. I have a hard time relating to others’ experiences of “hearing a voice" as an answer to a prayer. I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever had a clear answer to a prayer. But I can say that when the world around me quiets down, I can think and feel more clearly. For me, it’s easier to “hear Him” when His voice isn’t competing for my attention.

A well known and favorite quote of mine is by Boyd K. Packer: “The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied, we may not feel it at all."

The older I get, the older my children get, the more preoccupied I seem to be. I recently wrote a post about balance and how challenging it is to maintain. Jobs, kids sports and activities, sickness, injury, car troubles, music, writing, school, exercise, dinner…. There just isn’t enough time in the day. And even if there was, the weight and struggle in my mind would keep me too preoccupied anyways. Where in all that am I supposed to quiet everything down to hear that gently caressing Spirit speaking to me? How am I supposed to “hear Him” in all the noise?

I’m not sure about you, but one thing that works for me is aligning my priorities. The days I’m able to wake up in the morning and refrain from immediately going to my phone filled with work, social media, YouTube, emails and distractions, and instead ignore my phone and spend some time alone in prayer, scriptures, or quiet meditation, those days I can hear His voice a little bit clearer. The day still ends up being filled with the usual activities and noise, but because I put Him first, in turn I receive a bit more clarity.

Recently I bought my first pair of AirPods headphones. One of the things I love about these headphones is their “noise cancellation” and “transparency” modes. All I do is press down for a few seconds on the tip of the headphones and all of the noise around me deadens and I can hear my audio clearer. If I press it again for a few seconds, I then enter transparency mode where the noise around me is amplified but I can still hear my audio.

Prioritizing a quiet morning with no distractions is like pressing the “noise cancellation” button on my headphones, then spending the rest of the day in “transparency” mode. I’ll still hear the other noises around me, but I’m also tuned in to His voice when it speaks. Or rather, for me anyways, it’s my own voice. I feel like the Spirit speaks to me in my own voice within myself. An idea or a thought or a realization usually feels like it comes from myself, like I’m speaking to myself. Sometimes when I’m alone, I will in fact verbalize my own thoughts to myself. It helps me maintain clarity in what I’m trying to articulate. And often, those thoughts are then written down and eventually turned into personal journal entries, blog posts, or maybe a song. My “notes” app and my “voice recordings” app on my phone are filled with these thoughts and partially completed songs.

As always, it’s easier said than done and the outside noise can still be overwhelming, even with my spiritual headphones in.

God speaks to His children in different ways. He knows us, better than we know ourselves. We all “hear Him” in different ways. Only you know what way that is. But I think it’s up to all of us to figure out how to quiet the noise around us.

I have three kids. There’s nothing more frustrating than a parent trying to communicate to a child that is unwilling to listen. It usually results in imperfect parental yelling, or counting, or some sort of threat of punishment to get our children to heed our words. Especially when children are young, getting them to “hear” us is nearly impossible.

Similarly, our Heavenly Father, like every parent, wants to talk to us, His children. He wants us to hear Him! But he has that perfect patience and will wait until we are ready to listen. Very few times in scripture does he raise His voice above the surrounding noise to speak to someone.

He will wait until we’re ready. Until we decide we want to hear Him. Until we decide to put our spiritual headphones in, whether in “noise cancellation” mode or “transparency” mode, I don’t think it really matters. Whenever we unplug, turn down the volume, or remove ourselves from distraction and intentionally focus on Him, he’ll be waiting and ready to talk to us.

The world quieted down for me in April of 2020. The loud noise came back with a vengeance, but at least for a brief moment I was able to experience some unexpected peace and reinvigorate my efforts to hear Him a little better.

I just gotta keep those headphones charged.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

“Suddenly the noise has ceased,
Suddenly the sounds of peace,
Like the breath that you hold before release,
Close your eyes, fall to your knees,

Somewhere in the realm of space,
Engraven on your soul, His face,
A picture in your mind, a warm embrace,
Speak your heart, then gently wait...

Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
When you're near Him,
Are you listening to the pause?
Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
He is speaking through the silence,
To your heart.

A whisper in the wind, a breeze
A voice inside your mind, or is that me?
Or is it one in the same, this voice that's speaks,
Please help thou my unbelief,

A question on my mind nobody knows,
Here is all I have to show,
Distractions all but gone, the moment is close,
To my Father, I repose.

Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
When you're near Him,
Are you listening to the pause?
Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
He is speaking through the silence,
To your heart.

A boy, not much different than you and me some how,
He cried, and entered in a Grove of trees with power,
The time had come, the wait was o'er,
His work has just begun,
The answer stood above and spoke
This is my Beloved Son.

Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
When you're near Him,
Are you listening to the pause?
Hear Him,
Can you hear Him?
He is speaking through the silence,
To your heart.”

You can also watch the video podcast of this blog post below on Vox Nostra's Youtube channel: