Rescued

We have those days when we feel hopeless and alone.  Life is a cycle at times.  We are down and out sometimes and high and on top other times.  I have learned that the dark times pass if we are consistent in moving forward and fighting the demons we are faced with.

Dark days can come from family issues, healthy issues, work, play, choices we make, and challenges we each face.  No one is exempt from challenges,  it is part of the process of life.  Learning to deal with them and learning to find joy in the journey.

Recently I was in one of those moods, down and out and decided to take a few moments and write what I was feeling.  Life has taught me that down and out does change.  Some times, in fact often times it does seem like it will never change.  When we are in the dark we cannot even dream that there is light ahead.  But light does come and the darkness does flee and we are once again in a good place.

I hope this poem brings you some peace, especially if you struggle in at times.   I hope it helps you to see that light will come and there is a source of light that is there for all to see.


Rescued

Often life finds me lost
Lost in a sea of regrets and pain
Over come by waves of grief and shame

Waves that  rip my very soul
Pushing me below the surface
So far under I cannot see relief

Lost in massive pains of fear
That fill my heart with deep despair
Leaving me breathless and broken

In my mind past relief or repair
I sink further, deeper into darkness
Consumed with doubt and brokenness

As I sink further down
The weight and frustrations
Cloud my mind and heart and sight

Leaving me alone and frightened
Feeling all is lost and gone
No hope for rescue or even light

The very bottom draws so close
I feel its solidness and endless mass
I yearn to sink even further

Perhaps in the depth
I can hide and be forgotten
Left alone to soak in misery

That quite dark place
Where no one comes
To disturb my aloneness

Will I be rescued or sink deeper
Will someone care or notice
That I am alone, lost past feeling

Is this journey meant to be
For me or anyone
A deep dark lonely endless sea

And yet
There is a glimmer
So very small

That breaks even
The darkest parts
And the deepest depths

A light
That penetrates
All

It brings peace
Where hope is lost
And darkness reigns

And starts the assent
Slowly
Almost without notice

Up up up
Out of the darkness
Slowly ever slowly

Light and breathe
Are restored
With added strength

That can only come
From light
That destroys all darkness

His light and love
His grace and mercy
Lift me beyond what I cannot endure alone

I am lifted
Once again
To the calm surface

The waves that raged
The depths so dark and deep
Are now forgotten

As He
With hands of others
Lifts me up

And once again
I see the light
And Feel the peace

And Rejoice
That I am not alone
Ever  

Written by Brad Petersen

The Art of Surrender

I have a dear friend that submitted this post and asked if I would like to post in on my blog. I love it and it is something that I really struggle with, Surreder. I have a hard time surrendering my life to a Higher Power, Thank you dear friend for sharing. And I hope you enjoy this post as much as I have enjoyed it and learned from it. Brad




One of the most difficult lessons we need to learn in mortality is the art of surrender. I've discovered that I have a problem with wanting to control everything, though I don't believe I'm alone in frantically confusing what I can and can't control. Peter had to surrender his logic to follow the Savior out onto the water, defying physics. Naaman followed the seemingly ridiculous instructions of the prophet before being cured of his leprosy. Abraham was asked to give up his beloved son, Isaac. Moses was led into the Red Sea, placing the lives of the Israelites into the hands of Jehovah. Coined by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, "The Serenity Prayer" has been a consistent asset in my personal pursuit of progress: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." Sometimes we feel its impossible to surrender our wills to the Father, that our hearts yearn too strongly for things that we can frankly have but our Father forbids. How could the Lord allow our hearts and minds to be do fiercely conflicted and expect us to give in to His will? We must remember that our Heavenly Father also surrendered control - over us! He surrendered control by giving us the ability to choose Him or to choose ourselves. He's familiar with sacrifice, having sacrificed His sinless Son to grant opportunities to His rebellious children. When we tell ourselves it isn't fair, perhaps we're right. But was Christ's suffering fair? I used to think that I hated everyone, but I've found that I have the opposite problem; my love for others becomes maladaptive at times, resulting in codependency. When people I trust choose to leave the path, my soul is shredded and my heart breaks. What could I have done better? How am I to save them? Was this my fault somehow? The questions are endless. I am learning, as painful as it is to admit, that I am not the Savior. I cannot live others' lives for them, nor should they live their lives for me. No man is an island. Our behavior affects those we love, but our loved ones aren't in control of us. We each have control over our own choices and will have to answer for our own decisions. Because I cannot make choices for others and cannot in and of myself save them from the consequences of their actions, I can either worry fruitlessly or I can follow the admonition of the Savior for us to cast on him our every care. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, And he shall sustain thee. He never will suffer the righteous to fall. He is at thy right hand. Thy mercy, Lord, is great And far above the heav'ns. Let none be made ashamed That wait upon thee. (Schubring and Mendelssohn) I would die for my friends and family without hesitation, and I hope that they know that. But my life cannot satisfy the demands of justice or mercy in the lives of others. Only Christ's can. He's already paid the price, so why do we try to pay it ourselves? While I was still in diapers, I became best friends with another boy. We grew up together and had each other's backs against bullies and other such losers. Then his family life fell apart and I was ill-equipped to help. But still he said that he would stay true to the faith. So I was settled, thinking that he was right. Months later, he told me that he was no longer coming to seminary because he was leaving the Church. My world stopped turning. I was crying for days. Here I thought that I could always turn to him and he'd be there for me. He said he wouldn't change in any aspect of his life except that he didn't believe in the Church, but, unfortunately, this proved to be false. His personality changed as he began to throw one commandment after another out the window. I tried to hang out with him on occasion, but he was a different person. We both moved out of town and almost completely lost contact with each other. I obsessed over what I could have done differently, how I could have responded better or testified stronger. I blamed myself for a long time. While I was on my mission, another best friend (since kindergarten) left the Church as well. Again, bitter tears and self-blame. I couldn't believe that this was happening again. If I had been a better example, if I had steered him away from harmful influences more persistently, and so on. I have come to accept the choices of these two wonderful men and no longer grieve. Do I feel sorrow and miss them? Yes, absolutely. But I recognize that they have their agency and I have mine. A good friend went through a breakup and I did my best to help her understand the importance of surrendering what we can't control to the Savior. He knows what to do to make things right, anyway. Why don't we trust Him more? I wish that I could learn this lesson by now, but it just doesn't get easier to surrender my friends to their choices. I know, I know - codependency much? As I've progressed on my journey with same-sex attraction I have met so many wonderful people with the same struggles as I have. Our life experiences are painfully similar and it's incredibly easy to relate to one another. Obviously, this lends itself to close friendships. An unfortunate reality in our community is that people run out of strength and drift away on occasion. It's been difficult to see such beautiful people make mistakes and get stuck on the wrong path. When I found out that a loved one had given up in this regard, I broke. I've been sobbed every day for a week and lost about 10 pounds as food seemed to turn to ash in my mouth. Perhaps I had become codependent with this individual, but I've never felt such devastation before in my life. I prayed constantly and fasted and wrote his name on the temple roll. I reached out and, without giving details, asked dozens of people to pray for me and my friend. I begged for the ministry of angels. It came to the point where I was so sorrowful that I felt that I would only have peace through death. My parents were panicking as were some of my friends. I couldn't function in school or in my social relationships. I fretted and worried about what to say to my wandering friend, begging the Father to help me understand why it had to be him. What was I supposed to learn from this experience? I even asked Heavenly Father to punish me instead of my friend because he had been through too much already. After I said this prayer, I recognized that my codependency had gone too far. I expressed my fears to this friend and expressed how much I loved him. I told him that I respected his agency and his path, that I didn't want him to base his decisions around what I'd want. I reminded him that his relationship with the Savior was sacred and it was his. I acknowledged the horrific trials he'd experienced throughout his life and I wished that I could provide the answers to his questions. I testified that I had only witnessed miracles after I had endured in faith when I thought despair and hell-fire were about to consume me, and that I had to come to know the Savior. I then explained that I didn't start to understand the Law of Chastity until I really started to understand the Law of Consecration. I told him that I loved him enough to let him make his own decisions. While sitting with an old friend, we pored our hearts out to each other as is our custom. After listening to my emotional whirlwind, my friend offered "In my not so humble opinion, I think the lesson that you're supposed to learn from this trial is that you have to surrender the happiness of your friend to the Savior." I believe that she was exactly right (she's always right). In my prayers, I offered control over this situation over the Lord (as if it was in my control to begin with, bless my heart). I told the Father that I would rather surrender my crush* than lose this friend to the gay lifestyle. In that moment, I recognized that I was, in a way, offering a consecrated sacrifice to the Father. I offered the fierce love that I've had for my crush for so many years in order to bless the life of my friend, for whom I had pure, Christlike love. I gave my burden to the Lord, seeming to watch it go like a prayer boat over a waterfall. The Lord has answered my prayers and led this friend back to the path, but the process has been brutal. Our spirits might as well reach the pearly gates beaten and worn as a reflection of what we're dragged through in mortality! I believe that we're taught about agency so much that sometimes we develop a controlling mindset. When the Lord asks us to cast our burdens upon Him, He means it. I've found so much peace in handing over what I can't control to Him. The humility involved softens our hearts and opens them to hidden blessings. I know it's hard to let go. Sometimes I have to listen to Kelly Clarkson to get over the loss of a friendship since such an event is the closest thing I've experienced to a breakup. Pitiful, huh? However, sacrifice is a central principle of the Gospel (i.e. Tithing, the Sabbath, Obedience). As we give up the things we hold dear when God asks them of us, He in return showers us with the answers and hope that we seek. Johnny