Butler, “SPIRIT: The Gift That Connects You To Heaven” (Reviewed by Sherry Ann Miller)

Spirit: The Gift that Connects You to Heaven - Deseret Book

Review

Title: SPIRIT: The Gift That Connects You To Heaven
Author: David Butler
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: non-fiction; doctrine: Gift of the Holy Ghost
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 154
Binding: Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-62972-778-3
Price: $15.99

Reviewed by Sherry Ann Miller for the Association for Mormon Letters

David Butler, a self-described movie expert, has a way of luring his readers into a book of doctrine as though he is truly going to show a hero’s journey. He not only pulled me into his book, he actually made me feel like the heroine of my own story.

SPIRIT: The Gift That Connects You To Heaven is one of those books that made me ask, “Why wasn’t this written in my earlier years?” Back then, I had desperately longed to understand, because when I received the Holy Ghost, I didn’t have a clue what to expect…and it took years before I finally did.

Whether you are a new convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a lifelong member, or a newly baptized eight-year-old, SPIRIT is the best book I’ve read on the subject of the Holy Ghost. I would recommend it to anyone longing to understand how the sacred Gift of the Holy Ghost really works in one’s life. I wish I had known when I was baptized everything David Butler teaches in this enlightening book.

Reading SPIRIT is a joyful journey, an easy-to-read sojourn through pages with quotes that are highlighted throughout in large gold letters that grab your attention quickly and precisely. The first such adage that hit home for me was found on page nine, where Elder Neil L. Andersen said:

“As evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory spiritual power for the righteous. As the world slides from its spiritual moorings, the Lord prepares the way for those who seek Him, offering them greater assurance, greater confirmation, and greater confidence in the spiritual direction they are traveling. The gift of the Holy Ghost becomes a brighter light in the emerging twilight.”

I circled these words immediately and put a post-it note on the page so I could refer back to it again and again. Also, don’t miss the quote I drew a heart around on page 12, which are David Butler’s own words about the influence the Holy Ghost can have in our own lives. If I were to give all of the quotes I loved in SPIRIT, my review might be 150 pages long. So read the book. Just read it.

Introducing us to SPIRIT, David reminds us there are three members of the Godhead, three personages we call God: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and (you guessed it) the Holy Ghost. We are then propelled onto our hero’s journey of discovering just who the Holy Ghost is, and perhaps more importantly, WHY He is. You’ll love the quote on page eighteen that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave when he spoke of the three members of the Godhead:

“Having made the point of Their separate and distinct physical nature, we declare unequivocally that They were indeed and are ‘one’ in every other conceivable way— in mind and deed, in will and wish and hope, in faith and purpose and intent and love.”

So much TRUTH is packed into SPIRIT.

On page forty-six, Butler told me something I had not fully realized in all my years upon this earth, “…because of the Holy Ghost, I can be away from our Heavenly Parents and away from Jesus and still feel their love.” What profound joy this thought still gives me. And, pages fifty-four/fifty-five remind me that when truth is testified to me, and I acknowledge that testimony, the sweet warmth of the Holy Ghost will touch me, “…like God has left a fingerprint on my heart.”

SPIRIT reminds us that the Holy Ghost is our navigator, our compass, our personal Liahona. “…if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). Butler states that the Holy Ghost “…wants to be involved in helping us navigate it all.”

Because my own beloved son recently crossed the veil, the chapter on the Holy Ghost being a Comforter offered particular solace to me. I wrote on my post-it note for this chapter that “pages ninety-six/ninety-seven are must-reads.” I want no spoilers here but trust this reviewer. Those pages are must-reads. In part of that chapter, Butler observes of the Spirit, “Sometimes he mourns, sometimes he comforts, and sometimes he stands as a witness to who God is.” Truthfully, just read the whole chapter and be comforted all over again, whenever you need it.

When Butler states, “One of the great privileges of the gift of the Holy Ghost is a magnifying power, strength, or ability beyond what we are normally capable of doing,” he is being decidedly literal. I have noticed this to be true throughout my life, and it is abundantly clear that this is also the case in many of my favorite Book of Mormon stories. More importantly, Butler explains, with numerous and vivid details, why he believes his statement is a fact.

In concluding his special book, SPIRIT: The Gift That Connects You To Heaven, Butler talks about Nephi’s conversation with the Spirit (from 1 Nephi 11), when Nephi sees things he has never seen before and understands truths he had never known, and Nephi praises and believes in Jesus in ways he never had before. Then, Butler states, “This is the kind of life you and I can expect when we walk it side-by-side with the Holy Spirit. He will take us to those places we have never been before—places we didn’t even know we could go.”

SPIRIT is an excellent read all the way through. However, there is one small part in the book that puzzled me because I had never understood it the way that Butler does. Furthermore, I still don’t. This is my only criticism, as much as I love all the other parts of SPIRIT, I wish Butler had chosen another example of someone who had, perhaps, lost sight of who the Savior is. Butler chose John the Baptist for this example, and I cannot abide by his conclusions as found on pages thirty-seven and thirty-eight, using Luke 7 as the foundation for his findings.

Under the “John the Baptist,” entry from the Bible Dictionary as found on the website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it reads:

“While in prison, John sent two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus to reassure their faith. Many have thought this event reflected a lack of confidence in John’s own mind. However, Jesus took the occasion to bear testimony of the great work John had done, emphasizing that he was unwavering and true (see Luke 7:24–28).”

To my way of thinking, this tells me clearly that John had sent these two disciples to Jesus to reassure THEIR faith, not John’s faith.  In my humble opinion, John never doubted, but if the Bible dictionary is not proof enough, we must then turn to latter-day revelation.

In Matthew 5, the prophet Joseph Smith made an amendment to the text in verse 11, which Joseph Smith translated thus, “And now Jesus knew that John was cast into prison, and he sent angels, and, behold, they came and ministered unto him.” Why would John need reassurance when he had received angels during his time in prison, who were sent to him by Jesus?

Also, in Doctrine & Covenants 84:27-28, we read that the Aaronic Priesthood would:

“…continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. (28) For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power.”

These two verses state that John was filled with the Holy Ghost FROM his mother’s womb, and the Holy Ghost is what David Butler’s book spends 154 pages teaching us about, explaining all the strengths that come from the Spirit, which helps us do things beyond our own capabilities; the Spirit helps us continue faithfully even when things look bleak. Further, these verses tell us that John was baptized in his childhood, and John was ordained with the power of Aaron by an angel of God when he was 8 days old. In addition, God raised John up.

I cannot believe that John needed reassurance for himself when he sent those two disciples to Jesus. No. Those two disciples needed reassurance. But, John did not. John’s testimony of Jesus remained unwavering and true. That said, I will give David Butler credit for adding these words: “We don’t really know what was going through John’s mind and heart….” But, since we don’t really know, we should at least consider the other evidence I’ve given in John’s defense. It’s only one small disagreement in 154 pages… and that is not enough to make me change my mind about the book.

I still heartily recommend SPIRIT: The Gift That Connects You To Heaven, by David Butler. It’s a joyful, beautiful book that teaches so much of the goodness of the Spirit. You owe it to yourself to read SPIRIT. You won’t be disappointed.

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