What Would You Do If You Were Not Afraid?

"What would you do if you were not afraid?"  

I read that question this morning from Christine Aroney-Sine's excellent little book: The Gift of Wonder, and it got me thinking about the way that fear affects most of us.  

I've learned over the years that fear keeps us living small, stunted lives when we could be living fully into the life that God means for us to live... abundant life, filled with hope and joy.  

Jesus repeatedly made this claim to his followers, even going so far as to say that his entire purpose was to help people be free from all of their unhealthy attachments of this world so they could have life in abundance.  

There are all kinds of fears, but perhaps more than any other, the fear of failure can de-motivate us, and keep us from being our truest selves.  Fear of failure is immobilizing and it can keep us from being the vulnerable, authentic and hope-filled God longs for us to be. 

As I thought about how my own fear of failure often keeps me from being my best and truest self, I remembered a poem by Khalil Gibran that spoke directly into what I was thinking:

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage, you and I shall laugh together with the storm And together we shall dig graves for all that dies in us, and we shall stand in the sun with a will, and we shall be dangerous. 

How awesome is that?  The poet doesn't revile Defeat (Failure), doesn't fear it.  Instead, Defeat becomes a companion that gives the poet courage--even helping the poet dig graves for all the things that had to die as the poet learns from Defeat.  

And then there is that last line:  "...and we shall be dangerous."  

There is nothing more dangerous to the darkness and evil in this world than a fully awake person, living their best life, who is unafraid and unbroken despite their failures.  

May this be true for you today and every day.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.