The Broken Window

When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I accidentally broke a neighbour’s window.

I don’t remember all the details, but after visiting my mum yesterday, she helped fill in a few of the gaps.

Her memory is that a group of us were playing outside and, for reasons that probably made perfect sense to those young boys at the time, we were throwing stones.

Then one of mine hit a neighbour’s ground-floor window. The glass broke, as did my courage and I ran home.

I can still remember the feeling all these years later: fear, panic and a strong desire to disappear before anyone discovered what I had done.

Of course, hiding didn’t make the broken window disappear.

Before long, our neighbour came to the house and spoke with Mum and Dad. I confessed, and mum recalled they paid for the repair.

I hadn’t thought about that story for years until I read Elder David A. Bednar’s message, “Therefore They Hushed Their Fears” in my Come Follow Me study this week.

He shared a similar story. As a young boy, he accidentally broke a shop window while playing with friends. Terrified, he hid under his bed, convinced that something dreadful was about to happen.

Childhood fears can feel enormous, but I think, adult fears can too.

The circumstances may change, but sometimes our instinct remains remarkably similar.

We can hide from difficult conversations, our mistakes, uncertainties and perhaps from things we cannot control.

Elder Bednar points to the people of Alma who found themselves facing a very real and frightening threat. Alma encouraged them not to be frightened, but to remember the Lord their God.

And then comes the lovely little phrase: “Therefore they hushed their fears.” – Mosiah 23:28

Their circumstances had not suddenly disappeared, and the danger was still real, but something changed inside them.

They remembered God.

Elder Bednar teaches that fear can be displaced by faith in Jesus Christ as we look to Him, build our lives upon Him and keep moving forward.

Perhaps that little boy running home all those years ago needed to learn something I still need to remember today: Hiding rarely brings peace, yet facing things does.

Making things right does.

And, above all, remembering Jesus Christ does.

I know there will always be broken-window moments in our life – things we regret, circumstances we fear, and futures we cannot clearly see.

We may not always be able to remove what frightens us.

But with faith in Jesus Christ, perhaps we can learn, little by little, to hush our fears.

What fear might become a little quieter today if we simply remembered Him?