Faith: taking the leap

One of my favorite advice columnists, Carolyn Hax, is often called on to find a way for people to get good results without taking risks.  Her expertise is in relationships.  How can I know that he loves me without me taking the risk of being hurt?  How can I get my mother-in -law to stop dropping by without hurting her feelings?  How can I accept a promotion and still not change the dynamics in my marriage?

There are a thousand variations to the question but the short answer Carolyn generally gives is "You can't".  Relationships and risk go hand in hand.  Sometimes the risks are small (I really don't like football, do you mind if I don't watch with you?) and sometimes the risks are big (I think living next door to your parents would be a nightmare.)  But there is always risk.  Who knows?  Not liking football could, indeed, be a deal breaker.

So it is no surprise that a life of faith....which is by definition, a life of trusting in Divine Power....is a life lived by trust.  And trust is always risky.  You know that.  I know that.

Furthermore, we tend to call on our faith in our personal lives when things are at their riskiest.  After a bad diagnosis or before a scary operation.  After a bad break-up or before applying for a new job.  We tend to call on our faith when we realize that the world is tilted off balance, injustice is real, evil is real, power is abused at the highest levels.

Each time we rely on our faith in God to unravel a dilemma, right a wrong, or make us feel better, we risk learning something new about ourselves and something new about God.  Let me say that again.  Each time we turn to God seeking a response for our lives, we risk learning something new about ourselves and God.

When our vision of God is rigid and our definition of God is precisely bounded, God's response is too often not only a surprise but a disappointment as well.  That is all well and good.  What we do next is important.

Do we then reject God for being something other than what we expected....or do we stop and listen and wonder and explore this new revealing of God in our lives?  Do we become one of the folks who got to know God in second grade and haven't upgraded our relationship since then even as our world and our lives became more complicated and confusing?  Have we allowed God to grow as a real presence in creation and in this life that we know, or has God remained a reassuring teddy bear on a shelf, reminding us of a good time long ago?

When God doesn't live up to our expectations, do we change.....or do we reject the God now revealed? To call God 'God' is to recognize that most of the time we will have just a small understanding of the universal picture....and to trust that holding the hand of this God is way better than walking alone.

In for a nickel, in for a dime

Do you know this saying?

It means, once you've decided to do something, there is no point in holding back.  Give it a good effort, a full effort. Do what needs to be done.  Spend what needs to be spent (penny wise and pound foolish fits here too).  If you're going to have fun, have fun!

Or, you could say.....if you are only going to spend what you aren't going to miss you'll probably end up with something that gives little pleasure.  In for a nickel, in for a dime.

This applies to being a servant of God as well.  If you are going to serve, serve.  Experience the power of giving more than just the leftovers, or the ends of the loaf of bread, or the broken cookies, or (my most famous example) canned peas.  Give.  Step out.  Risk that little bit more.  Serve.

When you are ready, let's sit and reflect on what it was like to give more than you planned, maybe even more than you thought was possible.  Good?  Too much?  Changed your perspective?  Left you exhausted?

What wonderful conversations these would be.  Let me know.