Love this!

Becky Thomas:  The Great Equalizer

Found at MormonTimes.com

"Those of us who teach swimming for a living have come to appreciate the water as "the great equalizer." While a child may be blind, deaf, missing limbs, autistic or any special needs, and not able to run bases, catch a ball, sink a basket or make a puck, they can still learn to swim. They have a freedom in the water that they can't find anywhere else.

I remember teaching a boy for several years who was blind, deaf and mute with even further mental disabilities. He usually arrived with bruises, which he acquired while he was running around the house crashing in to things. It seemed that whatever he did eventually caused him injury. He would constantly fall, trip, collide and crash.

The moment he got in to the water, he enjoyed a freedom that he never had on land. He didn't have to deal with tripping, falling or scraping himself up. He would swim all over the pool, and the hardest thing I had to teach him was to hang on when he came to the edge; he just wanted to push off and keep swimming. When he was in the water, he was finally free.

If I have learned anything from this gospel, and from being a Christian, it is the power of the Atonement and the ability it has to heal us, compensate us and bring us back to the center, despite where we have been in our lives. Regardless what country or cultures we come from, what language we speak, what type of family we did or did not come from, or what poor choices we have made, the Atonement is the great equalizer.

I have witnessed hearts that were hurt, torn, hardened and broken that have been softened and made whole again. I have seen hope restored when all hope was lost. I have watched as sin, which once stood as a barrier to further progress and growth, become a motivator to turn to Christ. I have seen forgiveness go from impossible to liberating. I have seen many, including myself, who have tripped, fallen, collided and been all scraped up from sin, finally become free. Basically, I have seen those who were blind, deaf and mute to the gospel truths begin to see, hear and speak of its goodness.

I don't pretend to understand the power or the ramifications of the Atonement. I only know what little I have seen and felt, and it is because of the Atonement, and only because of the Atonement, that we can be cleaned, healed and free.

Regardless our disabilities, our history or our sins, the Atonement is the great equalizer. I am just beginning to understand it, but one thing I know for sure: It is because of the power of the Atonement, the fact that the Savior lived, died and rose again for me, that I can have the opportunity to return to my Heavenly Father, to be free. Oh how grateful I am!"

Ummm...LOVE IT!  No matter what our upbringing, or talents, or education the Atonement gives us all we need to become perfect like Christ.  The imagery of that little, disabled boy swimming freely gives me hope!

Love to you all!