"Immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction." -Joseph Smith
I gasp, wrenching myself upright and pushing the leaden blankets off of me. Silence.
"I am a transparent eye-ball." Sitting on my swollen bench, I feel like Emerson. I see the wood, worn by many rainstorms. The leaves shimmer in the soft light of autumn sunshine. Birds twitter lightly in the distance. The ground is strewn with crunchy brown leaves. Up the road is the orchard, with its tawny apples hanging, falling, swaying with the light breeze. Will those apples one day return to the ground to enrich the soil or fill the belly of a hungry animal? Will they cling, green and sour, to familiar branches? In this moment, there is something closing in around the edges of my thoughts, it seems new, but also familiar. This idea, this emotion, this memory is golden-colored and warm. I bask in it for a moment, and then it creeps away.
"All things work together for good" - Romans 8:28
The cream cheese drops into a plastic blue bowl. I take a spatula and swirl in the sticky sweetened milk. I crack an egg, it falls with a soft plop into the cream cheese, the golden yolk breaking gently and spreading into the surrounding firm whiteness. The mixture puts up a gentle resistance as I move the spatula, my muscles contracting in a rhythmic motion. The kitchen is cluttered, measuring cups strewn across the stovetop, the sink overflowing with dishes from last night's potato soup. The kitchen feels like exhaustion. But I am separate, as I continue mixing, transfixed by the gold and white in my light blue bowl, swirling, mixing, becoming one.
I love your reference to Emerson! The quote and allusion made to him helps the reader understand the context better.
ReplyDeleteI too love the Emerson one. I immediately got a nature like feeling because of Emerson's ethos. Very nicely done!
ReplyDeleteThe Romans scripture is awesome! I loved the incorporation of a scripture with everyday life.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used an entry from one of our earlier blog posts and incorporated a quote into it. The quote works perfectly even though it is scriptural. I think it is a prime example of how sermons could use parables.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you built of your other entries as well. I also really liked the parallel you drew between Joseph Smith and yourself.
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