Mercy

 

An angry  scowl and persistent tapping on her desk.

Spilled snack and a jumble of items all over her space.

Slumped shoulders and exaggerated sighs.

A very frustrated teacher and a third grader with her heels dug in.  Way in.

I recognized the look because I've been there.

The days (or weeks or months) where NOTHING goes right.

Where it feels like the whole world is against you.

Where no effort is enough or good enough.

And it's all but impossible to remember anything but the intense emotion of the moment.

We don't even show it much differently as adults, do we? 

So at her teacher's request she sat with me for a bit during recess.

"Do you like how you are feeling right now?" I asked.

She slowly shook her head back and forth and the tears started to fall.

I let her cry for a few minutes and then prompted, "What is the voice in your head saying right now?"  

She mumbled some ugly and unkind things.

"Let's replace those lies."

And I had her repeat.

I am Smart.

I am strong. 

I am better than I am feeling right now.

And I can always try again.

Her tears subsided and I asked her one more question.

"What do you need to do now?"

She made a plan and headed off to make things right with her teacher.  

An hour later as I walked through her room she slipped a hastily scrawn but heartfelt note into my pocket.  

As I read it I recalled my prayer from the morning asking for guidance and help extending mercy to someone who needed it.

Because it's the best way I know to show gratitude for the mercy I am given every single day by my Savior.  

President Gordon B Hinckley cautioned, "I am convinced that there comes a time, possibly many times, within our lives when we might cry out for mercy on the part of others. How can we expect it unless we have been merciful ourselves?"

Because we ALL need mercy.