Becoming Hurts
©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash
image by Artem Kovalev on UnsplashThe world has moved beneath my feet,
but I can still touch ground,
more apt to lose my footing, but
more grateful when it’s found.
Still looking for my former self,
I now begin to see
that I’d do better to embrace
the newly minted me.
We have no magic to undo
events that foster change.
Life’s river shapes, carves, polishes
and breaks us, makes us strange.
But we are strangers on this earth;
we should not be surprised.
To go home as we came would leave
our hopes unrealized.
To be more than we were before
exacts a heavy price,
but our investment pales before
the Savior’s sacrifice.
Jesus withstood Gethsemane,
Golgotha, and the grave.
We, too, must walk through hardship,
losing things we yearn to save.
For with each loss, our hearts break
open, waiting to be healed;
and in that sacred opening,
God’s lessons are revealed.
They come as mighty rivers,
living water for the soul,
to shape and carve and polish us,
break us and make us whole.
This pattern is eternal growth,
uncomfortable and real.
God changes hearts, a wrenching
process we agreed to feel.
Becoming hurts, and growing pains
are all part of the deal.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“For after much tribulation come the blessings.” D&C 58:4
If this poem resonates with you, you might also enjoy “On Life, Loss and Angels.”
Tags: adversity, becoming, change, Christ, death, eternal progression, growth, John 16:33, loss, overcoming, trials
