Many of us may see our fragility, our vulnerability, and our weakness as an unfortunate byproduct of the Fall, as an unwelcome deviation from the Plan, as an aberration to be corrected as swiftly and thoroughly as possible. If we were not so fragile, we might reason, we might not need to be handled so delicately, and with such great care. If only the Lord had made us stronger and more impervious to damage then we would need to rely less on earthly assistance and Divine Grace and thus life would be better. But have we ever considered that in addition to testing our faith and refining us, the reason that God made us so fragile is precisely because it meant that we would require to be handled with care? The worth of each and every soul is precious in the eyes of God. If something is precious, then it ought to be handled with tenderness and attention and care. And if something is fragile, then it must be handled with tenderness and attention and care. Therefore, in order to reinforce how precious we are, God made us fragile so that we would have to handle with care our own lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters. We should not feel ashamed that we desire and in fact require the tender mercies of the Lord. This is by design. This is an integral part of the Plan. Our fragility is not a bug but a feature. We wouldn't take a precious and priceless and incredibly delicate and fragile Faberge Egg to throw around and potentially break at an egg toss, or to shove carelessly into a junk drawer to be forgotten. We were not made to suffer damage without breaking, neglect without wilting, trauma without scarring. We were made to be handled with care, both by our Maker and by ourselves and by each other. This doesn't always happen but thanks to the power of the Atonement and repentance and forgiveness and divine grace and tender mercies, what was broken can be mended, what was lost can be found, and what was destroyed can be saved. I know that we can and will always need to be handled with care and that this is exactly as God intended.
