Weeding out

It came from an article in Writer's Digest by Elizabeth Sims. It said  Let's face it: We writers tend to be rule-followers. We were the kids who turned in our papers on time, played the clarinet in the marching band....As adults we drive defensively, wear sunscreen and consult experts before making big decisions. We don't crash weddings or argue over the contents of our carry-ons in the airport security line. We weed out risk.

The line caught me because, I find it to be true. And I think this applies to our spiritual lives as well. We want God to remove all the uneasiness and risks in our lives.  We want spirituality to be safe.

Instead, God sends us inspirations that invite us to risk. God, it seems, dares us to believe, to act, to step out.

In class yesterday, we spoke of the importance of spirituality in our work as counselors. Our instructor asked us what our fears were. As we gave numerous examples, she summed it up with, "In other words, you are afraid to risk."  So true. So on the mark.

I am taking stock of my risk taking today, because I do not want to weed it out. I want to weed out fear, and hesitancy, and timidity. I want to step out in faith and know, my faith is about a God big enough to care for me. My God invites me to risk.

Taking the risk

Why are we so afraid of risking? Think of all the secrets we keep hidden within ourselves. And yet, what is more beautiful than an authentic self? 

I find that I keep up a façade because I fear. I’m not sure how others will accept me if they know the real me. So I don’t take that chance. I stay hidden and unknown, a smiling face without revealing the inner heart. I make an unconscious choice to stay lonely rather than risk openness. How wrong that is!

Carl Rogers once wrote I feel a sense of satisfaction when I can dare to communicate the realness in me to another…It is so obvious when a person is not hiding behind a façade but is speaking from deep within herself. When this happens, I leap to meet it. I want to encounter this real person. (16).

We don’t often think about that, that the real self makes others more comfortable, makes them want to leap forward to meet the real me. I suppose there is relief in no longer having to guess. Somehow, meeting someone’s real self invites me to take that risk myself, to be honest, to be open. It’s as though one risk is worth another.

What great friendships come from authentic selves! What wonderful doors open, and paths cross. So how much longer shall we fear to risk?