Light, Letter by Letter

 

An Acrostic Thought

Dear Reader,

This morning I learned something interesting about Psalm 37. It is written as an acrostic poem. In the original Hebrew, each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

The pattern is largely hidden when the psalm is translated into English, yet the purpose remains beautiful. The writer carefully arranged each thought, letter by letter, creating order in a world that often appears disorderly.

It caused me to wonder whether God may be doing something similar with our lives.

From where we stand, many of our experiences seem disconnected. We see moments of happiness, periods of sorrow, unexpected changes, unanswered prayers, mistakes, relationships, losses, and new beginnings. They may appear to be scattered fragments without any clear pattern.

Yet perhaps God sees the complete poem.

To express this thought, I have chosen the word LIGHT.

L — Let go of what you cannot control.

Psalm 37 begins with the counsel, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers.” In other words, do not allow the actions of others or the unfairness of life to consume your peace.

This does not mean that pain or injustice should be ignored. It means that we do not have to surrender our hearts to worry, resentment, or fear.

Sometimes letting go is not giving up. It is placing what we cannot carry into the hands of God.

I — Invite God into the unfinished places.

Many of us would prefer to approach God after we have repaired ourselves. We may believe that we must first overcome our weaknesses, resolve our doubts, or become more worthy of His attention.

Yet God does not wait for the poem to be completed before entering our lives.

He meets us in the unfinished lines.

He comes to us while we are still learning, struggling, grieving, questioning, and becoming. Grace is not merely the reward at the end of our journey. Grace is the strength that carries us through it.

G — Grow through what you experience.

Not every experience is good, but God can bring goodness from every experience we place in His hands.

Recovery has taught me that even regret may become wisdom. Loneliness may deepen compassion. Failure may produce humility. Grief may teach us how to sit quietly beside another person who is hurting.

The painful chapters of our lives do not have to be wasted chapters.

God can transform them into words of understanding, patience, and love.

H — Hold fast to hope.

Psalm 37 repeatedly reminds us to trust, wait, and remain faithful.

Waiting can be difficult because we rarely see the entire pattern while it is being written. We may see only one letter, one line, or one difficult season.

Hope allows us to believe that God is still writing.

The present moment may not explain the past, and it may not reveal the future, but it can still become a place of faith.

T — Trust the Author.

An acrostic poem is not a random collection of words. Each line has a place within a larger design.

Perhaps the same is true of our lives.

We may not understand why certain events were permitted, why some prayers were answered differently than we expected, or why people we loved could not remain with us. Trust does not require us to pretend that these experiences did not hurt.

Trust simply says:

“I cannot yet see the whole poem, but I believe God has not abandoned the page.”

Dear Reader, perhaps your life feels incomplete today. A line may seem broken. A chapter may feel out of order. You may be standing between what has ended and what has not yet begun.

Do not lose heart.

God may be arranging something you cannot yet recognize.

Letter by letter, experience by experience, He can bring light from darkness, purpose from pain, and hope from what once appeared meaningless.

We see only a few unfinished lines.

God sees the entire poem.

  🙏🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️  

The Courage to Endure, the Wisdom to Change

 

Dear Reader, 

Today, I would like to reflect on two quotations from my daily readings:

“But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
—Ernest Hemingway

And:

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”
—Confucius

At first, these statements may appear strikingly contradictory.

Hemingway encourages us to remain unconquered—to hold firmly to something within ourselves that suffering cannot destroy.

Confucius reminds us that life requires change. Unless we possess perfect wisdom, refusing to change may not be strength at all. It may simply be pride, fear, or stubbornness.

I can look back upon times when I needed to persevere through a programming assignment even though I felt physically and mentally exhausted. The result was a system that allowed cargo to move from shipside to land transportation with little or no written paperwork.

I can also remember times when feeling unconquerable caused me to push my coding abilities beyond my training. My pride and stubbornness nearly cost me the project—and possibly my employment.

Both experiences required determination, but only one was guided by wisdom.

For me, the common thread between these quotations is found in learning the difference between perseverance and resistance.

We do not need to lose a relationship simply to prove that we are right or to win an argument. Standing firm is not always prudent when our choices may affect our health, a cherished dream, or our relationship with a loving partner or child.

Humility allows us to acknowledge our wounds without allowing those wounds to define us. Through humility, we can rise again, learn again, and rediscover hope in the grace of God.

During difficult times, I have found it helpful to become still before God and release old opinions, familiar resentments, and unhealthy habits. In such moments, holding on may not represent strength or honor. It may instead reveal pride, selfishness, or fear.

Sometimes our greatest victory comes from refusing to give up.

At other times, victory comes from admitting that our present way of thinking is no longer leading us toward peace, truth, or spiritual growth.

Recovery has taught me that surrender is not defeat.

Faith has taught me that change is not weakness.

The challenge is knowing which moment we are facing.

What within me must remain steadfast?

What within me must be willing to change?

The Serenity Prayer expresses this balance beautifully:

“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.”

The bridge between Hemingway and Confucius is found in that final phrase:

The wisdom to know the difference.

We are not made for defeat—but neither are we made to remain unchanged.

God does not ask us to surrender our hope. He asks us to surrender whatever prevents hope from transforming us.

May we have the courage to endure what life places before us, the humility to change what God reveals within us, and the wisdom to recognize the difference.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please share in the comments any experiences that have helped you understand when to stand firm and when to let go.

🙏🏻🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️

Recycled Through Grace: A Hidden Message

 

Dear Reader,

Today I picked up a plastic soda bottle and noticed two simple phrases printed on its label:

"I'm a 100% recycled bottle."

"Recycle me again."

They were intended as a reminder to care for our planet, yet I could not help but wonder if they also described something deeper.

Our lives, like the bottle, may at one time have existed in another form.

In my case, the person I am today has arisen from an earlier time marked by grief, failure, loneliness, regret, and the pain known to many addicts and alcoholics. There was a time when I felt like broken pieces tossed aside. At moments, I even wondered if I had outlived my usefulness to family, friends, and community.

The miracle is that God rarely throws anything away.

Recovery has taught me that we are not defined by what we have been, but by what we are willing to become. The broken pieces of our lives can be gathered together and fashioned into something useful and beautiful.

Perhaps that is why those words caught my attention:

"I'm a 100% recycled bottle."

Imagine if we could say the same thing about ourselves.

"I am a recycled child of God."

And if necessary:

"Recycle me again."

How fitting those words are for the spiritual life.

Every day I discover another rough edge that needs sanding, another fear that needs surrendering, and another lesson that needs learning. Thankfully, God is patient. He continues His work in us long after we would have given up on ourselves.

The first miracle of recovery is that we are given another chance.

The second miracle is that we are continually being remade.

To me, that is the hidden message found on the side of a soft drink bottle:

"I was not discarded. I was redeemed."

And if tomorrow finds me needing grace once more, I pray I will have the humility to say:

"Recycle me again."

With a grateful heart,

🙏🏻🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️

"At this table, everyone belongs."

  

At this table, everyone belongs. 
And there is always room for one more.

Dear Reader,

Many of us make judgments based upon our experiences and our unexamined thinking. From politics to the foods we eat, the natural man has likes and dislikes. I am no exception.

These preferences are not necessarily evil. Whether one enjoys coffee with cream and sugar or black is simply a matter of taste and, for the most part, has little effect upon the lives of those around us. Yet if we begin to determine another person's worth—or where they are welcome to sit in the restaurant—based upon how they drink their coffee, then I believe a line has been crossed.

This may seem like an obvious error in judgment, yet when the same logic is applied to nationality, skin color, lifestyle, religion, or even the alcoholic, we quickly discover how easily prejudice finds a home within the human heart. We would do well to remember that those who label others will, in time, find themselves labeled as well.

In his work Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wisely observed, "Whenever you are offended at someone's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings." His counsel invites us to pause and examine our feelings toward another, ensuring that our thoughts and actions reflect a higher order of living and community.

Mosiah 3:19 provides similar guidance, inviting us to "put off the natural man." Likewise, Paul taught, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Both passages remind us that spiritual growth is not merely learning new truths—it is allowing old assumptions to be replaced by greater light and understanding.

We are also reminded by the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal" and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Though imperfectly lived throughout history, these words continue to call us toward a more excellent way.

What began as a reflection on Henry David Thoreau's statement, "It is never too late to give up our prejudices," has become an invitation to consider one of the great themes found throughout scripture, philosophy, and spiritual literature: the transformation of the human heart.

It is a call to humility—the willingness to admit that we may have been wrong and, with God's help, become something better.

Perhaps the measure of our spiritual growth is not how long we have held our beliefs, but whether we are still willing to let God change them.

With that thought, may we remember that it is never too late to soften our hearts, widen our circle of compassion, and see one another as members of the same divine family.

Thanks for reading

🙏🏻🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️ 

The Healing Power of Forgiveness

 

 

Dear Reader,

Last Sunday, a member of my church entrusted me with a copy of her notes from a talk on forgiveness. As I read her words, I found myself reflecting upon a simple question:

What is forgiveness?

At first, the answer seemed obvious. We have all heard the words, "I forgive you," or perhaps have sought forgiveness ourselves. Yet, as I sat quietly with the thought, I began to realize that forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts our Heavenly Father has given His children.

Forgiveness has the power to heal broken hearts, mend relationships, and lift burdens that have been carried far too long. It is not simply an act of kindness; it is a divine principle central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Guide to the Scriptures teaches that when God forgives us, He cancels or sets aside the punishment for our sins. Likewise, when we forgive others, we seek to treat them with Christlike love and release the feelings that have held us captive.

In many ways, forgiveness is less about changing another person and more about allowing God to change us.

The Savior taught:

"If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him."

—Luke 17:3

And when Peter asked how often he should forgive, the Lord replied:

"Until seventy times seven."

—Matthew 18:22

These scriptures remind me that forgiveness is not a single event. Rather, it is often a process—sometimes a lifelong one.

In my experience, asking for forgiveness requires humility. It requires us to acknowledge our mistakes and to seek to repair the hurt we may have caused. There is something deeply vulnerable about saying, "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"

Likewise, extending forgiveness to another can be equally difficult.

There are wounds in this life that run deep. Some injuries are the result of misunderstandings, while others leave scars that remain with us for years. There are times when speaking face-to-face with those who have hurt us may not be possible or even wise. Yet, even then, we can place our pain into the hands of our Savior.

One of the most beautiful truths of the restored Gospel is the understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Through His suffering in Gethsemane and upon the cross, He not only took upon Himself our sins, but also our grief, our sorrows, our disappointments, and our heartache. He understands perfectly what it means to be wounded, betrayed, and misunderstood.

Isaiah wrote:

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows..."

—Isaiah 53:4

Because of Him, we do not carry our burdens alone.

I have also come to believe that one of the hardest people to forgive is ourselves.

We remember our failures. We replay our mistakes. We wonder if we have done enough to merit forgiveness. Yet, the message of the Gospel is one of hope. Our Heavenly Father does not ask for perfection today. He asks for sincere repentance and a willing heart.

As children of God, we are all works in progress.

President Russell M. Nelson once taught that the Lord loves effort because effort brings rewards that cannot come without it. Each time we repent, each time we forgive, and each time we choose to begin again, we take another step along the covenant path.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest blessings of forgiveness: it allows us to move forward.

We no longer need to be prisoners of yesterday. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, we can become clean, hopeful, and renewed. We can see ourselves and others not as we once were, but as our Heavenly Father sees us—His beloved children.

Today, if there is someone you need to forgive, I invite you to pray for the strength to do so.

If there is someone from whom you need to seek forgiveness, may you find the courage to take that first step.

And if the person you struggle to forgive is the one staring back at you in the mirror, may you remember that the Savior's invitation extends to you as well.

His healing is real.

His mercy is sufficient.

And His forgiveness has the power to make all things new.

With love and gratitude,

  🙏🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️