We do
what we know. Cooking is an excellent example. We often cook
like those who cooked for us. “It’s a family recipe!” we say with pride. But there are many other examples: how
much we exercise, how much we watch TV, how much money we spend. These are
behaviors we learn from someone, usually our families of origin. Sometimes,
when we do what we know, it’s rather insignificant, like whether we wash our
car frequently or not, but other times, doing what we know has a profound
impact on who we become and the development of our lives.
This is
especially true when it comes to education and vocation. For example, my
brother and I both went to Ohio University, which is where my father and mother
went to college. My father probably went there because his father went
there as well. It was never even a thought that one of us would not
go to college, and yet, it should have been. Twenty years after his
graduation, my brother said, “I didn’t need to go to college. I would
have been better off at a trade school.” For someone who struggled in
math and reading, but excelled in visual relationships and problem solving, a
liberal arts degree might not have been the best thing for my brother. As
it was, he ended up majoring in fine art, specializing in the lost wax process
for fabricating metal sculptures, which is a highly technical skill. So,
my brother went into a costly liberal arts program only to end up in a trade
doing metal work. Maybe doing what we know is not always beneficial...
Of
course, there are exceptions to the premise that we do what we know, like when
someone is the first person in their family to attend college. This
becomes a momentous occasion in the life of the family and a cause of great celebration.
This is going beyond what we know, and this is how we evolve as
individuals, as families, as communities, as nations and as a species.
Depending
on what you have seen, heard and learned, doing what you know can be very
fulfilling and lead to a happy life or it can be limiting and lead to feelings
of mediocrity. God is always calling us out of a limited, mediocre life
into an expansive, abundant life, and thus God is always calling us beyond what
we know into unknown territory. God pushes us into places we have never
been so that we will grow.
Think
about Jacob wrestling with the Lord. We
all know that a large part of the spiritual journey is surrender, letting go
and letting God, but there is also a time on the journey when we need to
wrestle with God. We need to let God
push us and we push back so that we enter into these new territories in our
lives. Jacob wrestled with the Lord all
night and wouldn’t stop until God blessed him, but we know that at the break of
dawn, God did in fact bless him.
Think of
your own struggles right now. Don’t see
them as meaningless battles in your life just meant to make you miserable. See them as opportunities in which God is
calling you to stretch and to grow. At
the end of the match, we can be confident that God will bless us just like God
blessed Jacob, but we can’t be afraid of the fight.
Once we
are convinced that we don’t simply have to do what we know, when we are willing
to let God stretch us and grow us, life becomes one big opportunity.
On the one hand, this is exciting! You never know what is
around the corner, who you will meet or where your path will take you. On
the other hand, this is scary! You never know what is around the corner,
who you will meet or where your path will take you. But I think faith
makes the unknown more exciting than scary. A friend once gave me a card
that said, “To have faith is to believe the task ahead of us is never as great
as the Power behind us.” I couldn’t agree more. When you trust that
God has your back even in the challenges, you can walk forward with courage and
confidence, and you can take the next necessary step on your journey, which is
the leap of faith.
A leap of
faith is putting yourself out there, going for it, jumping into thin air.
Imagine a tall, stone cliff. You are standing on the very edge.
Can you see land across the way or does the expanse just stretch before
you? In either case, whether you have some idea or none at all, you need
to back up and get a running start and...jump! Don’t worry about landing.
It’s the jumping that is most important. Jumping is a spiritual
act, an act of faith.
Many of
us do not wrestle with God nor take the leap of faith into new realms even
though it has the potential to lead to our happiness and fulfillment, and we do
not do these things because we are afraid. This is unknown territory that
we are striking out and jumping into after all; we’re trying to go beyond what
we know. What will happen? Even more important, where do I fit in?
We start to fear the unknown because we don’t know how to make it or even
what it looks like to make it. This is why doing what you know is so
comforting. Since you’ve seen someone else do it, you now know what to
do. But when you jump into the void, you aren’t following anyone’s lead.
You are just flying on the back of the Holy Spirit.
Two of
the main fears preventing us from the leap of faith are failure and lack of finances.
Have you ever wanted to do something, but dismissed it, saying, “I can’t
do that.” If you want something, you cannot let fear of failure get in
your way. Failure is just part of our
success really. It’s a necessary step in
achieving our goals. Don’t be
embarrassed about who you are; don’t think you are less than anyone else.
You have talents. You have passions. You have God’s grace all
around you. True, you never know what will happen when you go for it, but
once again, that’s the beauty! Trust that God is carrying you into your
hope-filled future.
Beyond
our psychological fears is a tangible, practical and realistic fear: fear
of not having “enough” money. This is a very real fear for all of us to
some degree. We wonder, “Will I make enough money to support myself
and those dependent on me?” Each one of us has a unique financial
situation and we have to wait until we feel the timing is right, but we
certainly cannot allow money to be the only ruling factor in our lives.
My friend
Bradley worked in a law firm as a paralegal, and he did not like it at all.
He did not like his boss, his hours, his responsibilities. Bradley did
not come from a family with money and so he felt very dependent upon himself to
make a good living and acquire security. He worked at that firm for 10
years before he found himself in a situation where money was no longer the dominant,
controlling factor in his life. When that day came, he took a deep breath
and said, “I’m quitting my job and going back to school to be a therapist.”
There it was. His dream could no longer be contained. Bradley
decided that six months ago, and as of today, Bradley is still planning on taking the leap
of faith, but has not. I suppose the smart thing to do when transitioning from one
vocation to the next is to go at your own pace.
Take it slow if you need to. Get
something going over there before you quit over here. No matter how gradual though, there will
always be one moment when you are required to jump!
Each of
us is on a journey of discovery to become the child of God we were born to be,
but if we simply stick to what we know, we might miss our true callings.
Certainly, God does not just want generation after generation of coal
miners or cab drivers or ministers or doctors. You are made
for one thing, and I am made for another. The truly great adventure in
this lifetime is walking your path honestly with God so that you become more
fully, more completely you.
Remember
the parable of the talents from the gospel of Matthew? In this story, a
master leaves one person five talents, one person two talents, and one person
one talent. Both the person with five and with two talents double their
money by using it, but the person with one talent buries his money in the
ground because he is afraid. When the master returns, he praises those
who have used their talents wisely and says, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.” But to the one who was too afraid, afraid of failure, afraid of
having nothing, the master was very displeased and punished him for wasting
what he had.
We don’t
want to waste the “talents” God has given us because we are afraid of anything.
It’s all a gift. God has gifted us with our skills and passions,
our creativity and our minds. Let’s use them. Let’s give them to
each other like an offering to God. What I give to you, I give as an
expression of love that overflows from the divine. May it somehow bless
you. The same with what you give to others. May we use everything that we have to glorify
God, uplift one another and build up the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Erma Bombeck, a columnist and wise woman that she was, said,
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not
have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave
me.'” You can use everything you are in this life, just don’t be afraid to wrestle
with God and to take the leap of faith into the unknown. We begin with
what we know, but we progress by going beyond what we know into our destinies.
