Antidote

I hear it on the news. Millions of people are losing their jobs. I feel fear as I think of the implications that this kind of news would have on my family. I feel thankful that Jon still has his job and wonder if that could change. I think no one is safe.

Yesterday during a class break my friend found out that her husband had been let go. We only had a few minutes to talk about it but in that short time, I saw in her face the fear, the worry and the concern. It was the close-up and personal view of what all these news reports are about.

All these feelings have been on my mind and I woke up this morning with a vivid memory of an experience that to me is relatable to what answers these feelings of fear. The antidote to fear, if you will.

An older woman had joined the church in our Franklin, Tennessee ward. She was different. I mean she was very, very strange. It was really hard to determine her age because she had endured many years of abuse; first as a child and then as a wife. During testimony meetings she would get up to the microphone and share her feelings in odd ways. She once took a miniature key board with her to play a song she had written as child. She spoke of statues talking to her and other very odd experiences. I felt a little bit of a cringe every time I saw her walking up to the stand.

One Sunday she shared again her feelings about spiritual things and it was the most powerful testimony I have ever heard. She began by relating in a general way what it felt like to have a father that was abusive. A father that she would watch carefully as he walked up the path to home to see if he was drunk or sober. She knew what to expect if he were drunk. A father that told her that she was stupid and worth nothing. She then spoke of a husband who was much the same. At times when she related these feelings she was loud. It was emotional and the congregation was quiet and attentive.

She paused and got quiet and then said, " Yesterday I got my patriarchal blessing and the first thing that the patriarch said to me was your Heavenly Father loves you and watches over you."

She then shared what that felt like to know that she was valued and loved for the first time in her life.

I know that He does love us and watches over us in all parts of life, in good and bad times, times where we are unemployed and times when we are lonely. He doesn't care if you are rich or poor, Mormon or Methodist, male or female. He loves us in ways that are real and tangible.

It is something I have always known but it was reinforced by a strange lady with a powerful story that I will never forget.