March 23

Fog

It was the fog that caused us to be lost.

I was questioning decisions that had to be made about seminaries and where my place was in those decisions. I was unsure of a lot. My husband felt so very sure, and it was very lonely for me. We had one final seminary to visit, and then a decision had to be made. Secretly, I was hoping we could just start again later, when we were older.

That is when it happened.

We ran right in to a wall. A wall of fog. We knew we were near the seminary, but we could not see anything. The lines on the road were our only guide, the only way we were even sure we were on a road at all.

Finally we found something that appeared to be a parking lot. Not sure where we were or where we were going, we thought it better to park and walk. There was a sidewalk just off the parking lot. It seemed like a good place to start. We took the path up the hill, barely able to see a foot in front of us. As we came up a small hill it seemed as if the fog vanished, the sun burning a hole in the thickness. It was then I saw it. A bench, just a small marble bench. The words engraved on top took my breath away.

DONNA All is Well

My husband came up behind me. “What is it?” he asked. “Did you find a sign telling us were to go?” “Yes,” I said. “I think I did.” Just as the sun came through at the top of the hill, it was if the sun broke through in my mind. Everything just seemed so clear.

It was the fog that caused us to get lost. Without it, we would never have been on that part of campus to see that bench. The fog didn’t obscure the path – it opened it up.

Donna Purdy