(And not in the way George Clooney loves you…)

Bridge Over Troubled Water
~ Simon & Garfunkel
by Paul Simon

When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

“All our losses and sufferings will be made up to us in the resurrection.”

—Bruce R. McConkie (Ensign, November 1976, p. 108.)

Also

Conflict, frustration, affliction, and misunderstanding are normal aspects of the mortal world. Speaking through Lehi, the Lord instructed us that “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” (2 Nephi 2:11.) In mortality, opposition is present and makes possible choice and the exercise of agency.

From

“Managing Conflict”

by James T. Duke and J. Lynn England, Counseling: A Guide to Helping Others, vol. 1, 81-95.

read the lyrics to Deep Water by Jewel and see if that proves cathardic.

Second, I may be way off base here and you could be touching on something that’s completely outside of my understanding (which you probably are).

If, however, I am to offer anything….sailing it out there to possibly be drawn in by the wide net you have cast…

Sometimes, when you’re drowning…and you fight the process of drowning…you get exhausted and want to give up the fight…you stop the struggle and realize–you’re floating.

You didn’t really need to fight all along…or maybe you did at first…or you did from time to time…but you don’t know when those times were…. and it’s likely you haven’t had to fight for a while…but you got “stuck on survive” and forgot to check to see if the flow would carry you.

Lehi said to his son: Oh that thou mayest be like this river, continually running towards the fountain of all righteousness.

But that doesn’t mean splashing frantically towards “the fountain of righteousness”…or forcefully swimming…when the current will carry you…

FOOTPRINTS
“My [daughter], my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”

No, Kate—I don’t know how to erase fear and just live…at the risk of making this comment WAY (x10) too long….FAITH is moving forward in the face of fear, knowing that fear is a creation of the flesh and that which we put our faith in transcends our fear to lead us in the right direction—always. Without fail.

Lastly, Kate. I am no sage…I can only say what comes from my heart…and I firmly believe– To take pause, to ask questions…to feel afraid and alone…and to stand in the nakedness of our humanity, in the vulnerability of mortality…is a form of worship. I believe you honor God by the acknowledgment of your fallibility, by questioning and reaffirming your faith or aspects of it (not that you are…but if you were) throughout your life you ensure that you do not blindly follow, but follow from the true belief, belief from the core of you…the most pure form of faithfulness.