For the next run of days, I will be using quotes from the book The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich. It could be that it is more for me than anyone else - we shall see. Eventually, I was planning to move into the letter of James. We are reading parts of it on Sunday morning and it is full of interesting ways of looking at life in Christ.
The courage to be is the ethical act in which a person affirms his/her own being in spite of those elements of his/her existence which conflict with her/his essential self-affirmation.
There are many voices that attempt to tell us we are not worthy or beloved - just as we are. If you are anything like me, it takes a great amount of energy to shut out those voices and live out of this essential self-affirmation that comes most powerfully as we hear it from our God. This is not affirmation because of what I have done, it is affirmation that has no tag on it...it is a freebie. To be courageous is to be...this essential self - beloved - even as there may be nothing concrete to affirm this self. I always think of the little child who, when loved and securely held and able to trust, seems to bounce and to exude a springtime of life that is fresh and bright and confident. Such an affirmation of one's self can, as Tillich notes, make for the courage to live/be in spite of those elements of hers/his existence which conflict with who we are! To speak one's mind...to make a point even when it is likely to be a "out of the ordinary" point...to act contrary to the prevailing winds of society's actions, takes courage. Jesus life of love - unconditional love for all - was for those of us who call ourselves his followers, a life of courage that we often try to "spiritualize" away into another world. When the very core of our being is that statement of worth that cannot be damaged, controlled, removed or broken - for it comes from the very creator of all that is (all "beings") - then we are gifted with hopefulness. Because God says this about the very core of who we are - nothing can take that away. So in hope of what will always be (we are God's beloved) we act within that beloved state. When we do that, I think we will be displaying what is called courage.
Connection: Be a courageous lover today...of self...of others...of those close at hand - friends and enemies. Pray for each other that we can be for each other a reminder of the bold lives given to all of God's beloved.
Creator God and Ground of our Being, hold us as we enter this day. Hold us and then send us out as your beloved that we may become known in this day as children of the one who creates all things as good, good indeed. Amen.
The courage to be is the ethical act in which a person affirms his/her own being in spite of those elements of his/her existence which conflict with her/his essential self-affirmation.
There are many voices that attempt to tell us we are not worthy or beloved - just as we are. If you are anything like me, it takes a great amount of energy to shut out those voices and live out of this essential self-affirmation that comes most powerfully as we hear it from our God. This is not affirmation because of what I have done, it is affirmation that has no tag on it...it is a freebie. To be courageous is to be...this essential self - beloved - even as there may be nothing concrete to affirm this self. I always think of the little child who, when loved and securely held and able to trust, seems to bounce and to exude a springtime of life that is fresh and bright and confident. Such an affirmation of one's self can, as Tillich notes, make for the courage to live/be in spite of those elements of hers/his existence which conflict with who we are! To speak one's mind...to make a point even when it is likely to be a "out of the ordinary" point...to act contrary to the prevailing winds of society's actions, takes courage. Jesus life of love - unconditional love for all - was for those of us who call ourselves his followers, a life of courage that we often try to "spiritualize" away into another world. When the very core of our being is that statement of worth that cannot be damaged, controlled, removed or broken - for it comes from the very creator of all that is (all "beings") - then we are gifted with hopefulness. Because God says this about the very core of who we are - nothing can take that away. So in hope of what will always be (we are God's beloved) we act within that beloved state. When we do that, I think we will be displaying what is called courage.
Connection: Be a courageous lover today...of self...of others...of those close at hand - friends and enemies. Pray for each other that we can be for each other a reminder of the bold lives given to all of God's beloved.
Creator God and Ground of our Being, hold us as we enter this day. Hold us and then send us out as your beloved that we may become known in this day as children of the one who creates all things as good, good indeed. Amen.
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