The Master

He fumbles at your spirit

As players at the keys

Before they drop full music on

He stuns you by degrees

Prepares your brittle substance

For the ethereal blow

By fainter hammers, further heard

Then nearer, then so slow

Your breath has time to straighten

Your brain to bubble cool

Deals one imperial thunderbolt

That scalps your naked soul

*The winds take forests in their paws

The universe is still

I have loved this poem since high school and recalled it many times since. Sometimes I love poems because they resonate with truth and other times because they resonate with perceptions that are false but feel so real (like a depressing break-up song). I think this one is a hybrid of the two. In any case, I think to Emily, this poem captured the character/nature of God and her experience with Him- reflective of Christian views of God held in her day. (Although it is interesting to think that her contemporaries include the prophet Joseph Smith. She was a teenager when he died.)

Soul Scalping
Violent imagery, eh? What is it to have your soul scalped? In 7th grade I might have said not having someone to eat lunch with. But years down the road I would have described it as being too fat or ugly to attract the attention of boys. Still later, I would have said loosing the greatest opportunity of my life and the the doors for things I've dreamed of being closed to me. Is it now relationships gone wrong or conflict with close ones? And if I were to be asked this question when I'm 80, would I answer loosing the love of my life and feeling alone for 15 years while battling failing health and watching my children struggle to raise their families? The point is, the things that makes us feel frantic, humiliated, insecure (i.e. things that make us feel like God has 'scalped our naked soul') change. We toughen up and are always gaining perspective. Perspective. It is what allows us to thrive.

When I'm frantic, mom says, "Remain calm." That's what I can do. Things that would have frazzled me and sent me into hysterics now only receive their due recognition and I move forward. I can't apply this across the board to all-things-upsetting, but my ability to be chill has been astounding lately. And this leads me to believe that I am progressing. The fail-a-million-times-and-still-trying spirit is dealing me wins. Though I may not be progressing in the thing I most desire to have progress in, the act of trying again is what is giving me other blessings. And this is satisfying to me. My stubborn weakness is refining me in unexpected ways.

"In the churn of crises and the sinister swirl of global events, true disciples will maintain faith in a revealing, loving God and in his plan for redeeming his children, which plan is the why of all that God does.

"Jesus already is victorious in the greatest battle anyway.... The atonement was accomplished, bringing a universal resurrection of billions and billions, lifting all from the grave....

"The restored gospel is buoyant, wide and deep, beyond our comprehension. It edifies, concerning divine design in the universe or stressing the importance of personal chastity and fidelity. Only meek disciples can safely handle such a bold theology.

"Whether in tranquil or turbulent times, our best source of comfort is the Comforter.... We may shrink from some things in the current human scene, but Jesus did not shrink in Gethsemane nor on Calvary....

"Regarding trials, including of our faith and patience, there are no exemptions, only variations... the faithful will not be totally immune from the events on this planet. We can be troubled on every side, but nothing can really separate us from the love of Christ; worldly anxieties are not a part of being 'anxiously engaged....'

"Just as the Lord knows all of his vast creation, he also knows and loves each in any crowd, indeed, each and all of mankind.... though living in a time of commotion, we can stand in holy places and not be moved."

-My Maxwell