Day 338, December 8

Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn't breaking. It hurts because it's getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.

Rita Mae Brown

I have never thought of sorrow in positive terms.  Sorrow means hurting.  It means weeping.  It means aching, often because someone you love is hurting, weeping, aching.

But Ms. Brown's words gave me a new perspective.  Sorrow is what the Savior felt when He took upon the sins of the world.  Sorrow is what He feels still when He sees me, or any of us, committing sin.

So maybe there is a lesson in sorrow.  If, in my sorrow, I can find more compassion, more empathy, more understanding for another's needs, then that sorrow is not wasted.

This I know for sure:  sorrow is an inevitable part of life.  What I learn from it and how I use it largely determines what kind of person I am.