My Journey Is Just Beginning

GOAL: To focus on living the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) for one year.

For one year, I have decided to dedicate myself to trying to follow 7 verses of scripture more faithfully. (Not that I don’t have a million and one things to do in life, I just decided to add this to my plate!) ☺ It has now been a little over one month into my goal and I have learned so much.

I have experienced church leaders looking at me– wounded from life’s experiences and half dead in spirit … and judge me wrongly, walk away, and leave me in pain. The priest and the Levite did the same to the man on the road to Jericho. I found peace in the scriptures, in prayer, and in the healing of a few very choice individuals who acted as the Good Samaritan—sharing their own life journey’s experience and pouring in friendship and love to heal me.

HOWEVER, no one removed me from these circumstances, I still have to live with the situations and move myself forward. No one has taken over my life to fix everything, no one has waved a magic wand to remove the anger and hurt—that has taken, and is taking, fasting, prayer, and scripture study. Peace is available, I felt it in abundance as I attended the Washington D.C. Temple yesterday; however, to expect someone else to move my life forward through this time of hardship would be for me to miss learning the lessons along the path.

Sometimes I think we forget that the plan to have someone else make everything right and have all of us end up perfect … well, that was Satan’s plan.

Heavenly Father’s plan is MUCH harder for us to live. Each of us gets to choose for ourselves and sometimes the choices cause incredible hurt and pain to those around us. I would love justice for the wrongs others do to me—for them to feel a fraction of the pain their choices cause me. A simple, “I’m sorry” isn’t going to cut it—you need to KNOW the pain your choice put me through! Heavenly Father’s plan allows for us to get hurt from our own & other’s choices … yet, He also provides a Savior for me to turn to when I have messed up (yet again!).

… And Heavenly Father provided a Savior for those who wrong me. The leaders have apologized, so who am I to demand my pound of flesh for the wrongs done? The Savior stands before me, having already paid the price for their sin, their wrong, and for mine, all of mine—all of the countless times I have hurt someone unintentionally, all of the countless times I have apologized, yet again, for the same sin. If I ask Him to constantly heal me and heal the hurts I have caused to others as I stumble along my path of discipleship … then I need to allow Him to do the same for those who have hurt me in their own stumblings.

During this first month of trying to live and learn from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I have learned the importance of listening, truly listening. Our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson stated:

“I am confident there are within our sphere of influence those who are lonely, those who are ill, and those who feel discouraged. Ours is the opportunity to help them and to lift their spirits. The Savior brought hope to the hopeless and strength to the weak. … Throughout His ministry He reached out in charity to any in need. As we emulate His example, we will bless lives, including our own.”

As I have made time and the effort to listen to those around me, I have been inspired by their courage, their example of faithful living, their cheer in the face of incredible hardship. As I have listened, I have learned the secret response behind, “Wow, you’re so strong during this trial! I don’t know how you do it.”

The response not uttered is, “What choice do I have? I still have others who depend on me, so as much as I’d like to curl up in a ball and not face (a child dying of cancer, a child missing and found dead a year later, a spouse struggling with a loss of faith, etc.) … I don’t have that option, so I am moving forward, even though I can only do this one step.”

The secret behind handling incredible hardships? One step at a time. Just do that one step.

To have these incredible people THANK me for listening is humbling. I have done absolutely NOTHING. I have been humbled at their courage. I have been taught by their strength. And I have been far more blessed than anything I could have imagined by simply making time to listen.

I have learned to overcome fear of rejection. I have come to realize that most people, when they realize I genuinely care about them, as they are—NOT as I would have them become—are open and willing to share their personal journey along the road of life. Besides, who am I to say how someone else should be or how they should handle their life’s choices? I can’t even manage my own life perfectly! Quiet the mind and simply listen. This listening without a commentary within my mind, allows ME to learn from THEM. Someone I once would have dismissed as ‘quirky’ or ‘odd’, I have come to realize is incredibly strong and has overcome hardships that ought to grant them a life’s pardon for ANY quirky-ness they may carry.

One quick example, a lady I have visit taught for YEARS, faithfully going every month and bringing her to an occasional ward activity is definitively quirky. She is in her late sixties, dyes her hair midnight black, and wears an odd assortment of clothing—usually very brightly hued. She is almost illiterate and has worked much of her life as a dishwasher. Aren’t I just so wonderful, taking time out of my busy life to visit her?

Then, I learned to listen—and I realized that her life journey has been one of abandonment to a mental asylum when she was only 11 because her mother didn’t want to care for a slightly mentally challenged young girl. She never saw any of her family again, ever. The abuses she suffered in the asylum caused her to have a baby, which the system then promptly took from her, because she was a minor. She has searched for her lost daughter for years. She wasn’t able to go to school because of her life in the asylum and when she became old enough, she had to fend for herself, with no education, no family, and no understanding.

I am ashamed of the judgements I once held within my mind towards her. I am not worthy to call myself a Christian. Yet, through the Atonement, through my Savior’s grace and mercy towards me, I CAN be better as I move forward along my own road to Jericho. I can learn, I can change, and I can progress.

This last month, I have learned that our Prophet is counseling us to be more like the Good Samaritan, so let’s join hands as we journey along this road of discipleship. Let’s follow President Monson’s admonition:

“We become examples of the believers by living the gospel of Jesus Christ in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. As we do so, our lights will shine for others to see.

To read more of Emlee’s articles, click here.

Each of us came to earth having been given the Light of Christ. As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us and will light the way for others.”