Fearless.
“Are you fearless yet?”
“Not yet, Hank,” I said. “I’m trying.”
“Fall ... fearless ... into ... love.”
In those final mumbled words, Hank conveyed more to me of the essence of who he was and what life was than could have been done in a lifetime of spiritual teaching. Although it would take me another ten years to understand what I had heard in that moment, in a deep sense I had recognized it already—because…it is the archetypal soul gesture.
~ Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing
lent 3. From Intimidation to Love
As we approach Saint Patrick’s day tomorrow, you have to note society’s tendency to trivialize almost every ancient remembrance. Christmas is dumbed down to commerce, Easter succumbs to bunnies, and the height of St. Patty’s day is green beer. Saints in general are in short supply in the modern world.
But if you know anything of Patrick’s story, you realize this guy embodied fearlessness. An Englishman by birth, he and a large number of his father’s workers were seized by raiders and sold into slavery in the pre-Christian Celtic culture of Ireland. For six long years he was forced to work without adequate food and clothing guarding sheep until he escaped back to his homeland.
For the next 20 years, Patrick studied and served as a priest, mostly in France, until a dream brought him the vision that “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. Eventually, he obtained the support of the church to return to the land of his captivity where he pushed through many obstacles into the north and west where Christ was unknown.
Patrick’s wise discernment showed uniquely in the way he recognized spiritual continuity between some Celtic and even pagan traditions and the way of Jesus. For example, he welcomed some of their pre-Christian rituals into the celebration of Christmas and merged the cross with the symbol of the sun in what we now recognize as the Celtic cross. Through the ardors and oppositions of his journey, even within the church community, he had every right to be intimidated. Instead, he was resolutely motivated by love.
And this is our journey too, especially in the season of Lent when we come face to face with our shadow: Will we play it safe and take the path of least resistance… or will we find the courage to honor our own risky callings? No matter your profession in life, we all have a spiritual calling—and it always requires a degree of risk to pursue it.
My aunt Cathy reminds me that there are really only two prime motivational emotions in this life: fear and love. Can you relate to that? Seems right to me.
In the short epigraph above, Cynthia Bourgeault relates her visit to the deathbed of a beloved friend and his prescient knowing of our universal spiritual invitation: “Fall ... fearless ... into ... love.”
growing your soul
Where in your life right now do you hear God’s invitation to abandon your fears?
serving our world
Where do you hear God’s call to embrace newfound love as your deepest motivation?
takeaway
Fall fearless.
soak
This week’s chant assures us that our “trust fall” into God’s arms is the choice for love.