Years ago, I read a poem that described a woman’s day filled with constant responsibilities, a day in which she worked from dawn to dark and only then did she allow herself to rest and rejoice in coming to the end of a “perfect day.”
I truly thought to work continuously, stopping for as little rest as possible, was the definition of having a perfect day. Thus, I was constantly busy; constantly pushing and driving myself and every member of my family past preschool age to always be busy, busy, busy.
Sadly, I never came to the end of that “perfect day,” because I knew that in every day there was a time I had slacked off, time I had wasted, and work I hadn’t done. So, every day, I went to bed feeling frustrated and discouraged.
And then the day came when I had to finally admit that I was used up, burned out, and would never be diligent and committed enough to achieve “the perfect day.” Like the little boy in the story, The Empty Pot by Demi, I had to confess my failure.
And on that day, like the little boy in the story, I was shocked by the response I received from my Lord. Rather than casting me out in disgrace due to my failure, He lifted me up and showed me His definition of a perfect day:
That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. (D&C 50:24)
From that day to this, I have gradually shifted my efforts from making a day perfect to continuing to seek for and rest in conscious contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
And as the years have passed, more and more often, as I end my day, I feel the truth:
It has been a perfect day! Not because of my coming anywhere near putting in a perfect performance, but because of His perfect love.
Being mortal, I still am tempted to fuss a bit about what I might have, could have, should have done. But as I choose to let go of that temptation, I feel my Savior’s reassurance that the day has unfolded according to His perfect plan and purpose for me.
P.S.
To find this delightful children’s book about personal integrity, you can find it at:
Colleen I love this post
I have always loved that scripture , it can apply to us personally in so many ways . Personally the perfect day for myself will be the day that my hearts container is large enough to hold charity within itself and is pouring over ….I also feel that constant revelation from heaven as described in Doctrine and Covenants 121 :45-46 will reflect the perfect day in my life , this seems to be a great companion scripture to Doctrine and Covenants 50:24. Anyways this concept is interesting I love how the Lord taught you gently how to forsake making the offering of Cain by putting stock in the duties of your spiritual “vegetable garden” and shifted you towards making the righteous sacrifice of Abel ….I think through his love and grace your able to close the day in perfection because after all you have been taught to offer your love also …all of your heart is now what speaks instead of your Constant dutiful labors that before time ended your days in discouragement . What a blessing to learn the process of the true offering …it’s interesting isn’t it …I’m sure from Cains perspective he truly thought his work meant more because of the reality that he probably worked harder than his brother …I mean if we imagine what’s like to work in the blistering sun tilling a garden in comparison to standing beneath the shade tree herding sheep we can obviously see where the sweat and manpower lies ….and I’m sure in Cains mind it made sense to feel deserving of an acceptable reward from Father …but I think that’s the very key …Abel followed Fathers rightouesness by making the sacrifice that was dictated since the beginning , and Cain dictated his own sacrifice , similar to Satan in the pre existence …or other words they both sought to establish their own rightouesness, having left behind the Lord’s rightouesness . It is interesting to me that all the lies we have ever believed in about ourselves hinge around this concept ….we can put in all these labors similar to Cain and they can look very righteous to us ….but at the end of that perfect day you speak about ….the question becomes have we done the Lord’s rightouesness or have we gone about to do our own ….I’ve found that any time I make the offering of Cain my day ends in an unacceptable way …because it was an unacceptable sacrifice that was made and Father for our own best interest and good will always deny the wrong approach to him …but when we finally resolve to become like righteous Able …we break the curse of unbelief from all the generations previous to us ….and finally discover that “perfect day”. Thank you so much for this post ….so much to think about 🙂