Sabbath Devotional :: Discernment

discernment - Mormon Women for Ethical Government — .

My third child has an artist’s soul. Her world is full of color, music, and words. She lives to create; it is her passion. Her fingers and mind are in constant motion. This consuming need to create also has led to a great deal of frustration when projects fail to meet her high standards and vision. I can only imagine her levels of stress as a young girl, working on her masterpieces with inexperienced fingers, unable to perform as she desired. Tears, many tears, were a constant in our home as she struggled, learning to be patient.

One evening as I was fixing dinner, she came to me with her latest work of art. It was a bracelet of beads, meticulously chosen and painstakingly threaded. As she held it up, the beads slipped off the string and bounced on the tile around our feet. She let out a cry of frustration and dropped to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

I wish I could say I handled the situation with grace and patience. I was tired of the tantrums and hysterics. Watching her scream, my frustration level increased, and I did not know what to do. I wanted to scream and yell!

So, I prayed. I prayed for insight. I prayed for discernment.

Enlightenment came immediately in the form of two words, gently whispered: “Love her.” For one precious moment I witnessed, with discerning eyes, the love Heavenly Father has for my daughter — His daughter. I knelt beside her, gathered her in my arms and hugged her tight. The time for teaching restraint, calming exercises, and self-control would come, but at that moment all I was asked to do was love her — and that, I could do.

As I read the news each morning, I feel as though the world is in a perpetual tantrum, and I often find myself perplexed as to how I should react. We are bombarded with fake news, real news, aggressive leadership, heart-rending stories, political posturing, corruption, promises, broken promises, power-grabbing, money-grubbing, spiteful comments, differing opinions, Facebook discussions, and on and on and on. We are essentially standing in the middle of a whirlwind, trying with clumsy fingers to catch bright threads of truth as pieces of debris swirl about us, blocking and frustrating our pursuit.

To find and grasp these truths, we need to use all of our senses — especially our spiritual ones. We will need that sacred gift of discernment, that “light of protection and direction” (David A. Bednar, “Quick to Observe,” 2005). Discernment helps us journey to the heart of the matter without becoming lost in the tourist traps. A discerning heart and mind allow us to see and feel “the falsehoods of an idea or the goodness in another person . . . it helps us distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant, the important from the unimportant, and the necessary from that which is merely nice” (Elder Bednar, “Quick to Observe”).

We have a lot to do. There is so much to do! Yet, as we seek heavenly guidance, as we seek the gift of discernment, we will have that “light and direction” to teach us in our relationships, our studies, our activism, our words, and our homes. It becomes our power! And each one of us has the ability and opportunity to seek this gift.

I will not forget that night when I sat on the cold tile in the middle of my kitchen floor, rocking my precious girl in my arms. I was not alone. We are not alone.