"...that ye may learn wisdom..." (Alma 32:12)

Learning wisdom...

Do you ever feel like you are having experiences in life in which...well, that you got the short end of the stick? I have been feeling like this off and on since I got diagnosed with CRPS (March of 2016; learn more about CRPS here and here). But today I have had to stop and think a bit after having a new insight from this scripture:

"I say unto you, it is well that ye [have ...insert challenge here], that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye [have...said challenge], that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble" (Alma 32:12)

 When I read it like this, "it is well that ye have CRPS, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom"...I wanted to say, "What?! It isn't well. This really, really stinks (to put it mildly)!" Sometimes I get caught up in, "...but I can't do such and such" thinking, especially, I can't ride my trike or go on hikes anymore! To say nothing about all the shoes and boots in my closet that I can't wear!

Then I had to pause.

I have to be still. "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." (Psalm 4:4). I really like that...stand in awe...be still. I have found that when I am still, when I am calm and not all whiny or mad, or full of self pity, it is then that I receive answers, or peace, and I understand better what I need to do...or not do. Sometimes it takes me a bit to be still. But when I finally get there I realize that life is more than the doing or the getting.

I believe that this life is "a time to prepare to meet God..." (Alma 34:32). And to prepare I must learn how to be godly, which includes learning patience, long-suffering, spiritual endurance, being quick to forgive, healing, sorrow, joy, peace, being still...you get the idea.

It is not "necessary" that I ride a bike. But it is "necessary that I learn wisdom" (see Alma 32:12). "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished" (Ecclesiastes 4:13). Admonished is to be "warned of something to be avoided" (Dictionary). Another favorite about wisdom: "O be wise, what can I say more? (Jacob 6:12).

I invite you to pause, to be still. Take time to think about what godly attribute or quality you are learning. I know life isn't fair, but it sure is worth learning wisdom.

This is an interesting photo to me as I can see the "shine" on my left foot where my nerves have been damaged. And the "tan" is not really a tan at all, but rather, it's kind of a "burn" from the heat of the sun, not the light of the sun, if that makes any sense at all. Indeed, I am so grateful for my feet, as I can still walk -not for exercise, but for function- and that's enough for now.