BUG ON A BEACH a parable

i went to the beach today. to sit. to listen. to write.

i sat. i listened. i snoozed. i wrote.

then came bug.

bug was on a journey. he was about a foot away from me and what caught my attention about him was his struggle. whatever kind of bug he was and wherever he came from, he was not meant to be in sand. his short legs and

stiff shell of a body was not conducive to sand walking.

so i sat back and observed my new little friend as he made slow progress across the "miles" of land before him. it was sad to see him skitter across a few millimeters and find himself, once again, flipped onto his back and struggle to right himself and start again. i soon found myself cheering him on. hoping that with each new try he would find steady footing and move onward with more ease. no such luck.

then, he somehow stumbled upon the rock path. YES! now he was really going to get somewhere. i watched him swiftly make progress to his unknown destination. i was thrilled and almost directed my attentions to the ocean, when, out of the corner of my eye i saw him deviate. headed back toward the sand. i almost shouted out "No go back to the rock" ... but how silly. by the time he slipped and flipped the first time, he had already gotten far enough off course that i was sure he wouldn't be able to find the solid terrain again. this time i offered help.

i secured a small stick and held it out underneath his path, in hopes that he

would grab hold and allow me to help him back to the easier path. nope. instead, he froze. he was so paralyzed by fear that not only did he not recognize that i was trying to help but he couldn't even trust that what he saw was my effort to do just that. i waited. i was patient. i even nudged. nevertheless, he was so frozen that for a minute i thought maybe he had died.

by this time, i was completely involved and felt like this little friend of mine was teaching me a very valuable lesson that i was grateful to be learning. i finally picked him up. moved him a few inches away from me, so he wouldn't feel so "surrounded" and left him to his devices.

i chose not to move him to the stone path again, because i guess i felt like even if i had done so, he couldn't recognize it for what it was and wouldn't choose to stay on it, inevitably he would leave it again and be back in the same predicament. so i watched him for as long as i could see him. watched him make the same mistakes and fall in the same way, over and over again. it was sad. it was hard to see him waste so much energy righting himself rather than progressing forward.

i saw a lot of myself in bug. choosing to stay on the sand when the clearer choice is the rock. not recognizing when God is trying to help or intervene, being paralyzed by fear. fear of the unknown, fear of making the wrong choice. fear that i don't recognize well enough the spirit so that i can discern between the answers that i do recieve.

so many times i have been guided to the rock and the path is ALWAYS easier, progress is always swifter and my burden is lighter. so why, if i know all of that, do i still choose the sand???

yet, i am so grateful for each breath granted and one more day to live to do it better. Heavenly Father isn't going to pick us up and put us on the rock... that would interfer with our agency. but He can and will do all He can to guide and direct and cheer us on and help us each step of the way.

3 Nephi 14:24-27