You Cannot Fail!

A little over two years ago I left Austin, Texas for a move out to my current home here in California. Before leaving I stopped by Austin Presbyterian Seminary to say good-bye to the students and staff who had been so supportive of the spiritual direction work I had done there over the years. What I remember most from that last visit was a brief talk with Jackie Saxon, the Vice President of Student Affairs. She asked how I was feeling about the move.

"I feel both excited and scared", I replied.

Jackie said, "Excitement and fear are two sides of the same coin. They go together. That shows your goal has heart and life. If you felt no fear, neither would you feel any excitement."

"You're right. I just don't feel like I know what I'm doing. I don't know if it's going to work out. I'm going where I feel led, but it all seems so uncertain."

Jackie took hold of my shoulders with a firm, yet compassionate grip, looked me in the eyes and said these words that still ring in my ears as prophetic truth: "Hear me. You cannot fail! It may not go as you have planned it, but that is not failure. Whatever happens is the bridge to your next adventure. You cannot fail!"

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? What would you attempt if you knew that even those inevitable missteps and sidesteps were all ok? What if what seems like failure (when things don't turn out as you hope and plan) is actually the bridge to your next adventure?

What if you could not fail? What adventure would you go on? What change would you make? Who might you become?

As we enter 2014, I encourage you to live as if you were enrolled in a school where there is no failure, only learning. The school is life, the curriculum is what is present in your life right now, and the Teacher is Spirit/God/The Universe, who is collaborating with you for your highest good and the well being of all concerned. With that understanding, what would be a wholehearted step forward for you, an adventure worthy of your precious energy? Knowing that you simply cannot fail, what will you do?

A Hanukkah Reflection

Tomorrow is the first day of Hanukkah, which literally means "dedication" and which celebrates a rededication of the temple in Jerusalem during which time, as the story goes, one day's worth of oil kept the lights on for eight days. What universal messages might Hanukkah hold, whether or not we practice Judaism? Here are a few thoughts:

• On the other side of persistent, necessary effort is a victory that comes with no effort. Our term for that is "a miracle".
• Hope requires the willingness to be surprised. When I lose my willingness to be surprised, hope has little room to operate. Clinging to a predetermined outcome erects walls that limit visibility and possibility.
• Light, however, can enter where there is an opening, a crack in the walls I have erected. Am I willing to be cracked open and not be so secure and defended? Am I willing to let light in without knowing what inner shadowlands it will reveal or which path forward it will light? Am I willing for my heart to open so wide that light can enter from unexpected angles, from people I dislike or dismiss, from situation and feelings I want to avoid?
• Am I willing to release control so that God can take the shards of my heart and fashion them into a new heart that beats with unstoppable compassion? Am I willing to have a stout heart, a courage, that is not afraid to face a fragmented world and call it back into wholeness? Am I willing to dedicate my every moment to keeping that heart open at all costs?
• God, I am willing. And I am frightened. May the Light prevail in me.

Homosexuality and the Church

Here are two blog postings by Dr. Jim Rigby, pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. His prophetic ministry focuses on bringing justice to marginalized people in the name of Christ. The first entry describes the latest chapter in the ongoing attempt to censure a retired minister for officiating weddings of same-sex couples:  Redwoods Presbytery's Refusal to Censure

The second entry is entitled "Ten Things I Wish the Church Knew About Homosexuality". You can search his blog for interesting comments and deeper discussion about the "ten things".

Thank you Jim for your courage in embodying the Spirit and message of Christ!