This past week, in a word, was unexpected.
My dear grandmother died, General Conference occurred, I didn't work on that scholarship I meant to, I didn't reach certain goals I set, and it even snowed on Friday.
Part of me cries out, What do I do with all this??
The wiser, more capable part of me quietly replies, Keep running. Do what you know to be right, keep going. The Lord will take care of you if you take care of the effort.
And it's true, isn't it? I've always known it to be. Failure cannot prevail when one endures in the righteous cause of a life well-lived. At the very least, complete failure cannot occur. There are those times when it seems as if little mistakes, small letdowns, seep through the cracks. Sometimes, those little things threaten to break down one's entire foundation.
But I can't let that happen.
There's this book by Orson Scott Card I read recently, called Seventh Son. It's essentially a retelling of the Joseph Smith story, but with folk magic and all sorts of creative twists. The big thing I want to share about the book is the concept of making and unmaking. In this book, Card presents the idea that God stands for making, building, and creating, which is the epitome of good. On the other hand, Satan stands for unmaking, destroying, and annihilating, the center of evil. I want to be a maker, one who builds and upholds things like families, standards, and knowledge. By doing what I know is right, and enduring the difficult things, I will be building upon my foundation, my rock.
Let me put this into an analogy. My experiences and choices in life serve as the bricks of a wall or house. No brick is the same, some are long, some are different colors, but together they tell my story as I keep adding throughout my existence. The Lord represents the mortar between those bricks, cementing what I know and have learned. Though this wall of mine may become weathered, though parts may start to wear, it will never fall. I could never abandon what I know, for if I did, what would I hold onto during times of trial and heartache?
So this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna keep going, making my life by studying, running, giving, and remembering--all that I've loved and learned over the years. As long as I'm doing that, my work and beliefs and dreams cannot be unmade. I will do my best to be a maker.
This reminded me of a poem you might like a lot, I do;
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A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.
I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
As the men you’d hire if you had to build?”
He gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do.”
And I tho’t to myself as I went my way,
Which of these two roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?
Our bishop has told it to us a few times, always posing the question, "Are you a builder, or a wrecker?"
Lauren, you are incredible. Here's why: You are learning things a year before you're supposed to graduate that I am just barely learning a year AFTER I graduated. Here's to a very successful and beautiful life for you because of your ability to learn and retain and believe so profoundly. You are not incredible because you're perfect--you are incredible because you try perfectly.
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