Silent Needs

A friend of mine had a heart attack over the weekend.  He is 35.  He’ll recover, but it set me to thinking a little bit about the things we all need.  It seems to me that we can all agree on some of the obvious needs: food, shelter, water, air, sunlight, physical security, companionship.  I would suggest that the reason why these are obvious to us all is because they scream at us when they’re not met.  I’d like to talk a little bit about those needs that don’t scream at us: our Silent Needs.

Elder Uchtdorf shared a story about one of his silent needs:

“When I was 11 years old, my family had to leave East Germany and begin a new life in West Germany overnight. Until my father could get back into his original profession as a government employee, my parents operated a small laundry business in our little town. I became the laundry delivery boy. To be able to do that effectively, I needed a bicycle to pull the heavy laundry cart. I had always dreamed of owning a nice, sleek, shiny, sporty red bicycle. But there had never been enough money to fulfill this dream. What I got instead was a heavy, ugly, black, sturdy workhorse of a bicycle. I delivered laundry on that bike before and after school for quite a few years. Most of the time, I was not overly excited about the bike, the cart, or my job. Sometimes the cart seemed so heavy and the work so tiring that I thought my lungs would burst, and I often had to stop to catch my breath. Nevertheless, I did my part because I knew we desperately needed the income as a family, and it was my way to contribute. 

Many years later, when I was about to be drafted into the military, I decided to volunteer instead and join the Air Force to become a pilot. I loved flying and thought being a pilot would be my thing.

To be accepted for the program I had to pass a number of tests, including a strict physical exam. The doctors were slightly concerned by the results and did some additional medical tests. Then they announced, “You have scars on your lung which are an indication of a lung disease in your early teenage years, but obviously you are fine now.” The doctors wondered what kind of treatment I had gone through to heal the disease. Until the day of that examination I had never known that I had any kind of lung disease. Then it became clear to me that my regular exercise in fresh air as a laundry boy had been a key factor in my healing from this illness. “

He had a need and he didn't even know it.  My friend’s heart also had a need, and he couldn't hear it.  How do we learn to see the silent needs all around us?  To start with, we have to know what they are.  I’ll return to explore this idea further, but I’d like to start a list.  Feel free to add your own.  

Prayer

Work

Structure (especially for a child)

Blood Pressure

Cholesterol