Sunday, October 23, 2011

Choices


For whatever reason, I've been thinking about when Peter went to walk on the water toward Christ and started sink. That led me to compare myself to Peter. Interestingly (and majorly weird), last night in the adult session of stake conference, the stake president invited to compare ourselves with Peter (like I said, weird).
None of us are perfect. We make mistake…after mistake…after mistake…you get the picture. We have a choice whether to sink or swim. Our Heavenly Father and Savior have made sure there is a choice.

Toe in the water testing the temp.
Moving further in to gauge the depth
Advancing further out flowing with the tide
Floating deeper in letting the water take me for a ride
Ripples start to rock me very slow
Wind picks up; waves kick in and toss me to and fro
Look up and around to see which way is shore
Surrounded by deep water, there is no land anymore
Waves swallow me pushing me deeper in
All the strength within me still can’t help me swim
Darkness now; completely overtaken no more chance for me
Despair, now numbness; black as the eye can see
Someone reaching down stretching out a hand
Feels so far away, hopeless; hurts more than I can stand
The hand reaches out again begging me to take
Eyes want to close; why reach out and try at all when I may just break?
Pulling inside myself; the safest place to be
If I’m to be saved someone will have to come all the way to me
The presence looms above my head and patiently reaches out
The answer is within me; I just don’t know what it is about
What if I reach to grab the hand that is stretched out to me
Only to be dropped further in the darkness of this sea?
Soft as a whisper, the voice is there, “Come. I will not let thee fall.”
Fighting against the depths, I stretch, I reach, I crawl
At last fingers intertwined I begin my ascension from the waters dim
I am too heavy, I am too numb, I have no strength to swim
Slow and painful is the pace, the temptation to let go is strong
When at last I break the surface I hear, “I’ve been here all along.”
“Before you called for me, I was here. You are always in my heart.”
So many questions flying around I don’t know where to start.
“If you were there how could you let me fall into the very deep?”
Pain flashes across my heart; my eyes begin to weep.
There is love behind the eyes looking at me; sincerity in the voice:
“I cannot take what is yours to make. You must make the choice.”
To choose to step, to float, to sink was always mine to make.
Just as the hand reaching out to me was always mine to take.
So it is up to me to decide whether to sink or swim.
Will I reach up and take the hand or fall to the depths within?