Finding Peace Amidst Panic
25 Aug 2016 • Blog Post
I have one rule for summer fun that I rarely keep: don’t hike in August. After three consecutive years of near disasters occurring in August, I figure it’s better for me to stay off the trail.
Fortunately, some good came from these hikes. For example, my first misadventure taught me a lesson in prayer. I was hiking the Subway in southern Utah with four of my girlfriends. We had traversed the shallow riverbed to see the beautiful bowed-wall canyon and were lazily making our way back out of the canyon, when we started to see fewer and fewer hikers and less and less light.
It soon became clear that we were lost. After hiking back and forth for over an hour looking for the way out, one of us had the idea to off-road and scale the side of the canyon to get to the parking lot. That extremely wise person may or may not have been me, and that choice was probably the worst one we could have made. Our legs were soon scraped up by thorny plants, and the trail was a cumbersome slough of rocks and shale.
One by one, we began to lose it. Quiet tears trickled down one friend’s face. Another friend began vocalizing all the reasons this situation was awful. I’m sure all of us were praying.
I, too, cried tears of fear and worry. I knew we weren’t in mortal danger—as long as the mountain lions kept their distance—but I so dearly wanted to be safe in my bed and for this chilly night to be over. As panic attempted to take control, I silently offered another prayer, this time changing it from asking to get out of the canyon to asking for peace to get through the night. A simple thought came to my mind: Be the mother.
The thought completely changed my perspective. Instead of seeking for someone to comfort me, I realized that there were four other scared people with me and that maybe all of us could be less afraid if I focused on bringing peace to the situation as a mother would.
I began by singing Primary songs, which immediately seemed to change the atmosphere. We were still afraid but not nearly as panicked. After singing for a while, I began cracking jokes and laughing at our situation, softening its severity. Soon enough, we eased into a long, sleepless night—cold but less afraid.
It was a simple answer to prayer, but it completely changed the situation. Of this power of prayer, Cheryl C. Lant said in her 2007 fireside address:
Prayer does many things. . . . It brings comfort and peace. . . . It can give us specific answers. Our minds can be enlightened because revelation comes through personal prayer. . . . Prayer can help us find direction. It can help us in making decisions.
We can receive help in very specific ways. It is through prayer that we can find strength, both in spirit and in body.
My prayer that night was answered with a quiet change of perspective that strengthened me in just the ways I needed. While we weren’t directed how to get out of the canyon that night, we were directed on how to calmly get through the night without panic. The next morning, when daylight made obvious the way out, we easily made our way out of the canyon. We were exhausted and tired but at peace.
Amanda Kae Fronk is the communications manager for BYU Speeches. She is an avid collector of hobbies with book buying, nature watching, and food sampling being among the most enduring. She aspires to one day be called a master wordsmith, a woman of grace, and an owner of a devoted heart.
