I have been going pretty steadily to counseling since January of 2006, and feel so blessed and grateful for this process in my life. I have more to say about counseling, which I hope to get to eventually. This post is more about remembering what my counselor said to me as she thought about what she could say to me.
Those of you who know me well, know how much I love quotes, inspirational stories, and life analogies. I feel like Alma when he says in Alma 30, verse 41 But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?
Maybe this is why I look for analogies in the everyday things. Through my counseling through LDS Services since March, I have explained to my counselor how I have felt at various times through an analogy that I have thought up. So as she was giving me something to think about as she sent me on my way, she felt it was appropriate to paraphrase the analogy or parable (if you will) of the two vases. I hadn't heard it before, and spent some time searching for a more articulate portrayal of this story, but couldn't find it. So, bear with me, and if you know the original version send it to me!
On a shelf in the home of a beloved artist sat two beautiful hand painted vases. Each was individually crafted and intricately designed. Everyone who entered marveled at their beauty. One day, a careless bump of the shelf sent one of the vases crashing to the floor. The creator, when stumbling upon the shattered piece of artwork was saddened by this, and because he knew how rare the vase was and because he had put so much effort into it to bring it to the beautiful piece that it was, he painstakingly and lovingly glued this vase back together piece by piece. So skilled was the artist, that with the reconstruction of the vase, the untrained eye could not tell that it was lay in pieces. However, upon looking at the inside of the vase one could see the countless cracks and scars that told its painful story. This vase was once again placed on the shelf next to it's counterpart. While the vase and it's creator knew of fall and of the cracks, those who marveled at they beauty of both vases could not ever know by looking at the outside what the one vase had encountered. Sometimes, the once broken, newly repaired vase, despaired at its acquired cracks. It felt weakened and marred by this fall. The creator lovingly reassured the cracked vase that its fall, though painful, did not take away from its beauty, strength, or value. That on the contrary because the vase knew what it was to be broken, how much wisdom and gratitude it gained from this fall.
Now, this was my paraphrase from her paraphrase, but I think the sentiment still shines through the fumbled words (on my part). I almost hesitate to elaborate further because of how significant this parable is to me. It speaks to me of how we are all works of art, hand-painted by an artist who appreciates and loves us so much to not hide us away, but place us on a shelf to be bumped, chipped, and perhaps even broken at times. And, then by the grace of the atonement, we can be made whole again. Although both heaven and the individual know of the cracks and the scars, the value and strength of the person is not diminished but increased. There is wisdom and beauty in the breaking.
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