Disciplining a child

Confronting a co-worker or boss

Speaking out publicly for something you care about

Living into a difficult situation

Sending someone you care about to war

Making a change in your ways of thinking

Oftentimes when we think about the character of courage, we think about the people who have been willing to die for a belief or conviction. As noble as it is to give one's life on behalf of others, I'm not sure that's the point I want to make today. Everyone dies sometime whether he or she dies in courage or in cowardice. What I'm looking for today is the answer to the question, "Are you willing to live?" And as you live, are you willing to brave the courageous choices of everyday life?

To choose the path of courage is to step away from the easy road. It's a lot easier to pacify a child by giving them everything they want than to discipline them with what they need. The same goes for our co-workers, whether they are a boss, an employee, or an equal. It can be easier to cover up someone else's error than face the wrath of their anger in being confronted. Walking in the same old familiar patterns is a lot less taxing than learning something new any day. Easy choices lull us in time and time again. It doesn't take courage at all to plop down in front of the TV set, but it takes some effort and a little courage to meet our neighbor across the street or to start a pattern of daily walking after a long stretch without exercise. In a time and place where only a few of the people I personally know have worries about getting a meal to the table or have fears about their children dying from contagious diseases, we create plenty of opportunities for anxious behaviors even without the ominous fear of death upon us.

In Robert Gerzon's book, "Finding Serenity in an Age of Anxiety," he says that, "Pollsters tell us that most people are more anxious about public speaking than they are about death." (Gerzon, 2) That means that at least a percentage of you would rather die than do what I'm doing right now. He goes on to say how our current age has warped some of the sense of anxiety's purpose in our lives, saying, "We become more anxious about what to wear than about how to live. We are more anxious about finding a parking place than about finding solutions to social and economic injustice. We worry more about whether our investments are growing than about whether we are growing." "Yet," he acknowledges, "we can learn to let anxiety lead us along the path to inner peace, a path that is available to every one of us." (Gerzon, 2)

God never promised us a life free from fear. Rather, God promises that, in love, we'll be able to take some pretty profound risks, even if our knees are knocking as we do. Eugenia Gamble, a redevelopment pastor from Alabama, says that one of the key goals to invigorating new life in any church is to take risks, and take them scared. When we look at the life of Jesus with our eyes wide open, we might be surprised at just how closely he was walking the edge of acceptable behavior. Instead of making "pie in the sky promises," he challenged people in his hometown to believe they could live lives that were whole and be saved from real diseases in real time. He called the disciples to risk hunger and homelessness to follow his lead. He challenged the sanctity of religious law with the Pharisees and Sadducees. He broke the conventions of his social era by having true friendships with women and people of different class and code. He never strayed from his inner compass, his profound integrity that led him to follow every move in his life as if it were coming directly from God. That's why they called him "Blasphemer" and nailed him to a tree!

It's no wonder we have trouble claiming the center of our own integrity sometimes. We know just how great a risk it can be. We may think of it as fear for our lives, but more likely we fear the loss of connection to another person or at most the loss of a job. We are worried that someone might not like us anymore if we claim the fullness of our own identity. We're fearful of rocking that boat too hard, or maybe of making any waves at all. When we let our fear stop us from doing the right things, we have chosen the path of being "nice" over the path of being faithful. Jesus was not particularly "nice" in the ways he handled things. His most profound remarks left people with a sour feeling in their stomachs. Just imagine the fear of the rich young ruler as Jesus told him the way to a true life of integrity. "Sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow me." We overhear it as we read it, so it loses some of its punch, but if it were said directly to one of us, the fear would be staggering.

"Perfect love," scripture tells us, "casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." I'm not sure exactly how reachable that "perfection" is, but I do know that indeed the word "love" finds its opposite in "fear" just as easily as it does in "hate." The more love we have, the less fear we have; and vice versa, when we are afraid, it is difficult to find the will to be very loving.

Who would have thought that loving could be so hard? Really loving each other is to be for us a sign of God's love. Jesus lived a life not of bravado, but of true courage so that we might know what it looks like to put love in the very core of our being. But our human frailties can trip us up into fearful behaviors. Speaking the truth in love is one of the hardest things we can do for someone else. Nevertheless, I pray for all of you to be able to have courage, to live from your deepest and most authentic center. We often think of it as a divisive thing to not take other's feelings into consideration, and then we try to make peace with everyone. It doesn't work. Our clearest path to peace is first to make peace from within and to live by the Spirit's guidance that God has given us. We are indeed connected to the divine heart so that our hearts may learn to connect with each other. "The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." Amen.