[Title] Are You Really There?

[Kicker] A chaotic world would have us forget Gods relationship to us. A simple childrens
hymn can remind us otherwise. Commented [Unknown A1]: This is nice, but I would
like for it to mention asking questions or directing our
questions to God, because I was not expecting the
[Highlights of the source article] I felt like a little girl, hiding behind a wall and eavesdropping article to go in that direction, but I would have liked to
on an important conversation. So, do you believe in God or not? My friend, Jane, was the kind know about that in the kicker.
of person to dig deep into a persons souland tonight, my brother was the specimen under the
microscope. Even from the other room, I felt a sense of suspension as her question lingered in
the air. Finally, Brad responded. I mean, I think I believe in a higher power, but Im not going to
be so presumptuous as to name it God. Commented [Unknown A2]: Wow, this is a great first
paragraph. My own brother is an atheist, and I really
understand (very personally) the struggle with this
Every cell in my body lurched at that statement as a roll of images flitted through my mind. Me situation.
as a shy kid singing I Am a Child of God during a primary program. Me as an awkward
preteen reciting, We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, in a young womens room. Me as a
confident missionary teaching that God is our loving Heavenly Father, in a dim living room in Commented [Unknown A3]: I like the parallelism here.
Colorado.

Five years earlier, Brad had sung a different tune. I still remembered him Brad five years earlier Commented [Unknown A4]: It makes sense to use
as a beaming returned missionary, with a testimony as crisp as his ironed shirt. He would quote sung a different tune because this article is about
music, but I don't actually love that word choice here. It
Elder Holland, saying that telling others about Gods nature and His love was higher and holier sounds a little too clich for me, I think.
and more sacred and more eternal than anything [Id] ever done. But a new church policy, a few
lost gospel habits, and many philosophy classes later led Brad to a belief system that was as Commented [Unknown A5]: I would get rid of the
ambiguous as it was agnostic. quotation marks here, because I think lack of belief
really could count as a belief system. This kind of
sounds like a judgment to me.
As I stood with my back against the hallway wall, I silently poured out a prayer in the form of a
childrens song. Heavenly Father, Are You Really There? As He had done many times before,
my Father responded with a gentle press on my heart, reminding me that He was there. Of course
He was. All I had to do was ask.

I learned in the hallway that night that whether we have moments, weeks, or years of feeling like
Brad, the trick to knowing Heavenly Father is to project our questions towards Him, not toward a
political news source. Its searching for spiritual truths in spiritual texts, not temporal ones. Its Commented [Unknown A6]: I would include a couple
choosing to believe that Hes our Father, not just a feel good concept without a name. I know other places that people might turn as well. Just so it
doesn't look like you're saying that everyone who is
these things because He does, in reality, hear and answer every childs prayer. struggling with knowing that He is there is looking at
political news sources.
[Link to the source article] Read the lyrics of A Childs Prayer and discover for yourself how Commented [Unknown A7]: I really love this
sentence. (:
to feel Heavenly Father respond.
Source: https://www.lds.org/music/text/childrens-songbook?lang=eng
Find more insights
See how several individuals from around the world came to know that God was their Heavenly
Father: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-06-02-god-is-our-father?lang=eng

Read about how we can turn to Heavenly Father as our mentor when doubts and questions arise:
https://www.lds.org/liahona/2016/06/our-father-our-mentor?cid=HP14FPM&lang=eng

Learn more about how a testimony of Gods existence and His relationship to us can navigate us
Home: https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation/god-is-our-father?lang=eng&old=true

Discover how the Savior teaches us to receive communication from Heavenly Father:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/6.6

Study the teachings of the prophet, Joseph Smith, about Gods nature and His love for us:
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-2?lang=eng&_r=1

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