Emergency Blanket

Greg drove to Colorado to get a topper put on his truck, or “to have his truck lose all its cool factor” as RE put it. Because Greg knew I needed a last shot of megabonding with RE, he took the boys with him. Only minutes after cool truck pulled away with chubby hands waving out the window, I speed cleaned the house and then watched the Juliette Binoche version of Wuthering Heights. That movie was a natural segue to every version of Jane Eyre ever filmed, all of which I watched except for the 11-episode Timothy Dalton version that reeked with its soap opera sets and yuck lighting.

Everyone knows the best part of Jane Eyre is when Jane saves slumbering Rochester from the bed of flames. Because I know what simple draperies cost, a little part of me dies every time Rochester beats the flames down with his lush, Victorian panels that were probably heirloom quality and "hand-stitched by dear little nuns in Switzerland”. (Now I’m quoting Summer Magic, a childhood Disney movie I watched too many times. We had all the Hayley Mills movies, although I was never brave enough to watch Moonspinners unless Suzette was with me.)

All the flame quenching is tied to a term from a story I cannot forget. 

In most situations love really is the answer, but it is not always easy to love. I have often called upon the wise counsel my mother gave me when I was relating to her some perceived injustice I had suffered. I insisted that my grievances were justified. Knowing she could not undo the injustice, my mother advised me to

THROW A BLANKET OF MERCY OVER THE SITUATION.

In essence, she advised me to love, to forgive, and to show mercy, even where I felt my demand for justice was valid. She urged me to let mercy pay the debt and satisfy my claims. That advice has saved me much anguish and provided me great relief when I have been able to heed it.

Choosing to love is choosing to heal from the spiritual wounds inflicted by injustice and suffering. (Steele)

I cannot stress how much this term has impacted me. BLANKET OF MERCY. BLANKET OF MERCY. It is the only blanket with smother-ratings for every flame the adversary can ignite, be it volatile bonfire infernos or the slow, sickening coals we bury, yet carry, for years. 

I lived for decades before forgiveness hijacked my happy place and became the soul-twisting request that won’t let me be. I have strived to completely forgive...and then a spark flies and the flame is back. I’m wondering if I’ll confront it forever like a trick birthday candle. Is 70x7 going to occur every. single. day?

I hope not.

As a young driver, my parents counseled me to keep an emergency blanket in the trunk. You never know when you’ll be stranded and cold. To this day I still keep an emergency blanket in my car. In fact, I have two. They have come in handy so many times.

I need to carry another emergency blanket with me at all times—an emergency blanket of mercy—because old offenses can be easy to remember and hard to kill. The content of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only mass powerful enough to snuff the truly complex misfortunes of life gone awry. I’m tired of feeling stranded and cold. I'm more tired of dealing with fire. I can't throw in the towel, so I must throw the blanket.

Excerpt from “Choose to Trust the Lord”, Michalyn Steele, BYU Speeches, June 25, 2019. Photo image from ChurchofJesusChrist.org

Both of my emergency blankets were crocheted with love by Samkol, a Cambodian angel.