No Tears, No Spirit?

By Jessica Zoey Strong; illustrations by Garth Bruner

I’ve felt the Spirit so much this week at FSY.

Later that night

Hey, are you OK?

I don’t know.

I just don’t think I can feel the Spirit. Everyone was crying in there, and I wasn’t.

Just because you weren’t crying doesn’t mean you weren’t feeling the Spirit.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe I feel the Spirit more than I think I do.

“I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit. Certainly the Spirit of the Lord can bring strong emotional feelings, including tears, but that outward manifestation ought not to be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter (2015), 283.