The Rocking Chair

Attending church each week, I always hope to hear something special that will tend to make me think. I am always uplifted and taught by the Spirit, but I love it when something really touches my "internal, eternal being".

Today, I heard someone say the following, "Life can be like a rocking chair; we sit, we rock and we get absolutely nowhere". I sat there, wrote down what he said, and when I got home quickly got ready for my walk. While walking, I kept thinking about that rocking chair. Never did I think that I would compare my life to a rocking chair. Sometimes, I feel like I am in that rocking chair, rocking back and forth and getting nowhere. Daily I can be reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, trying to be obedient and doing what is right; but all of a sudden, I find myself sitting and rocking in that chair and going nowhere. It's discouraging when you think you were doing everything (well almost everything) good in your life so that things would stay stable and wonderful; and then, all of a sudden the "rocking chair" is "delivered to my home".

For awhile, I sit and I rock; it takes awhile to realize that I am going nowhere. But, that chair is comforting and I find it is so much easier to just sit there comfortably rocking. There's this little voice I hear and I begin to read my scriptures here and there when I catch a moment. I say my prayers when I finally give in to this feeling in my heart. And bit by bit, the rocking chair starts falling apart a piece at a time; and I find it is time to get out of the chair, quit rocking and start moving back on the path trying to make my life right again. Time passes by and finally I can take a deep breath and say ,"Thank you Heavenly Father. I made it through that one. Things are good."

But there is a cycle in our lives that is there for our purpose of growth in the gospel, a time for "proving herewith" that we can endure whatever is put in that path which we constantly are walking on. And, before we know it, a "rocking chair" is "delivered" once again not to our temporal home but to the "internal, eternal being" that dwells within our hearts. How can I be sitting in that chair again, rocking, getting comfortable, finding it easier and easier to just rock? The cycle begins once again--prayer, scripture reading, service, temple attendance, and many other great and wonderful things; those are the things that always get me out of that rocking chair, enduring and willing to get back on the path so that one day I can meet my Savior and tell Him "I rocked and rocked so many times in that chair going nowhere in my life; but you gave me a gift, a gift that nobody else could give. And I got out of that chair each time because I knew that I could endure whatever pain, discouragement, or heartache that was placed in front of me. I knew that You had sat in that rocking chair with me encouraging me and helping me to understand that You knew and felt all that I have felt. And because of You, no matter how many times in my life that "rocking chair" was delivered to me, there was a way for me to get out of it. And, because of You, I am standing here now with You, kneeling before you, seeing the palms of your hands and knowing that You were the one that gave me the courage to stop rocking and to start walking; and you were with me every step of the way."

I know that our Savior lives, and I know that because of all that He did for us in the garden, He is there for me through everything that I endure in this life. Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, he loves me as he loves all of us. With His perfect love for us, He is the one that has gotten me out of the "rocking chair" and onto the path. Maybe I am not running down the path just yet, but I know He is there by my side encouraging me every step of the way. For that, I am eternally grateful.