Safety for the soul

“Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.”



I loved that video. Partly because I love the expressiveness of dance and partly because it is a good message. It made me think and remember a time in my life when I was not so safe. A time when I did not make the right choice.  A time when I put my own wants above the things that mattered most.   
Many years ago, when John and I were first married, I did not like to do what I was told. There were a lot of reasons for that type of rebellion, in my own mind anyway.  But the truth was that I was just a little bit rebellious. I did not like to be told what to do.  I didn't mind suggestions, but I did not like to be told I have to do something.  My poor husband!  I am afraid that he got the poor end of that arrangement!  He used to have to be very careful how he "suggested" that I do anything. 
My husband believed in seat belts. I was not raised with them. I used them at work because I had to.  They were bright orange, after all, and if you did not wear them, you could get written up.  But I have to admit, that I did not always use them at home.  They were inconvient, they pulled on my neck when I wore them, and they were uncomfortable.  I hate being uncomfortable! 
We had gone to the store and I had put the girls in carseats. (Funny isn't it, how you will do things for your kids that you won't do for yourself!) I was getting something for one of the girls and had unclicked the seat belt to reach back and get it for her.  John saw that my seatbelt was off and told me to put it on because the traffic was bad. I told him that I would in a minute.
We were driving on Gilbert road and I had just turned around in my seat and started to put the belt on, but it hadn't clicked in place yet.  A little sportscar pulled right out in front of our van. It was a busy city street, with a 45 mile per hour speed limit.  John was not speeding, but we were going the speed limit.  We were not doing anything wrong, but the other car did not see us and darted right out across three lanes of traffic into our lane.  John did not even have time to put on the brakes. We t-boned the other car. 
Just in case you need a visual, we had a seven passanger mini-van that went right into the driver's side of that little red mustang convertable.  My body wasn't held down in my seat like the rest of the family.  I saw everything as if it was in slow motion.  My hand could not hold onto the belt.  I saw the look on my husband's face as he watched me go forward into the window.  I heard my little girls start crying.  My head went right into the window and the glass broke all around me. My head was cut and bruised, I ended up with a monster head-ache, but surprisingly, I was not badly hurt. I should have been, but I wasn't.
For some reason Heavenly Father was watching over me. My girls were all crying because I looked hurt and was bleeding. My husband had tears in his eyes also. "I thought I lost you", he said to me. "I thought I lost you!" The tears fell down his cheeks as he hugged me tightly to him.

Obedience is a lot like wearing a spiritual seatbelt.  We have commandments of things that we are supposed to be doing.  Sometimes we try really hard, and sometimes we just can't seem to get the belt clicked in time.  We can be so stubborn at times. We want to do something that we know in our heart is not right, but we reason it out within ourselves and go ahead and do it anyway.  We were given laws and commandments in this life to keep us safe and bring us home.  If we don't obey the commandments, we run the risk of behaving ourselves so far down the wrong path that we can't seem to find our way back.

Many people feel that the commandments are burdensome and that they limit freedom and personal growth. But the Savior taught that true freedom comes only from following Him:
"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31–32). God gives commandments for our benefit. They are loving instructions for our happiness and for our physical and spiritual well-being.

 President Joseph F. Smith has said:
“Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Light, who is no respecter of persons, and in whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. To please him we must not only worship him with thanksgiving and praise but render willing obedience to his commandments. By so doing, he is bound to bestow his blessings; for it is upon this principle (obedience to law) that all blessings are predicated.” (Improvement Era, Dec. 1917, p. 104.)

The gospel is so very simple when we understand it properly. It is always right, it is always good, it is always uplifting. Obedience to the principles of the gospel act as a spiritual seatbelt protecting us from harm and bringing joy and happiness into our lives.

May you never be the cause of tears on a loved ones face due to your own disobedience.