Reverently

I’ve thought a lot about what it means to be reverent over the years. I’ve sat in many lessons in my life about how to be reverent. And I’ve spent a lot of time the past couple of years trying to figure out how to teach my children to be reverent because I definitely want them to understand it is more than just being quiet. Sitting perfectly silent in church while giving your brother a death stare does not a reverent person make.

Iddo likes to bring me the Primary Songbook and open it to any page she feels like and have me sing her that song. She can actually open it to several songs and sing the song that’s written on the page now because she recognizes the pictures that go with them. One day she brought me the song “Reverently, Quietly” and I actually paid attention to the words. I noticed all the -ly words and thought that maybe that wasn’t a coincidence – reverently, quietly, lovingly, softly, humbly.

That’s it. Right there. That’s what being reverent is. It’s not silent, but soft. It encompasses love and humility. I can teach my kids that. I can teach them to be reverent at church because they love Jesus and Heavenly Father. I can teach them to be reverent by being humble and teachable, ready to learn what the Spirit wants to softly whisper to them.

I’m positive that there will be at least one Sunday where they spend the entire meeting giving a silent death stare at one of their siblings. But hopefully they’ll at least understand that just because they were quiet doesn’t mean they were reverent.