Article March 26, 2018 Issue

God’s mercy when you’re in over your head

Judith Hedrick

Experiencing God’s mercy—tangibly feeling the divine care that’s always available—can be very reassuring if we’re humble enough or repentant enough to turn to God for help. I had an experience years ago that helped me understand better the nature of divine mercy.

During my first year attending a state university, I was learning to navigate the new environment and the adult world. The first semester I made a couple of wrong turns. As a result, I picked what I thought were easier classes for the second semester. I wanted to be more confident speaking in front of a class, and since the university didn’t offer speech classes, I chose a beginning acting class with no prerequisites. I thought it would be for those who had never acted before, like me. I signed up for the class without even thinking about doing research on what it would require. Later I felt I’d been ignorant and foolish.

The first section of the class went OK, but I soon realized that it wasn’t for total beginners, and that the other students had solid acting experience. Next, we were required to memorize a soliloquy from one of Shakespeare’s plays and recite it before the class. I got partway into the speech, but ended up sitting down without finishing it. I was in trouble.

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