Beautiful and Dangerous

By Kathy Lipscomb

It’s snowing. I don’t know what makes snow feel so magical to me, but every time it snows, my depression lessons and my anxiety calms. Maybe it’s because the snow falls every time something amazing happens in my life. My wedding day had the first snowfall of the year, even though it was clear in December. My wedding pictures have these huge, beautiful snowflakes falling in them—gorgeous. Both my kids were born on days when it hadn’t snowed in a long time, but then snowed for them. It seems to be a gift for me.

Snow is beautiful. 

And dangerous.

I seem to love things that are beautiful and dangerous. Lightning Storms. The ocean. Rollercoasters.

Life can be like that. Beautiful and dangerous all at the same time. I find the beauty is in knowing how to navigate the dangers.

The gospel does that for me. It gives me a path of safety to follow, as long as I choose to follow it. On that path, I can see the beauty. Off the path, I still see the beauty, but I’m in the middle of the dangers now without shelter from the storms.

Going to church, reading my scriptures, prayer—all the things every calls “Sunday School answers” are what keep me safe. So I will do them, while watching the beauty that is life. Enjoying it, while also being safe.