It’s not just about me.
It’s not just about you.

It has to matter to us that it’s also about others.

This is what I heard in The Boys in the Boat as I was reading it. It’s the story of nine boys-to-men from the University of Washington as they entered the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Listen to author Daniel James Brown:

“What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did in the boat harmonized with what the other fellows were doing. And a man couldn’t harmonize with his crewmates unless he opened his heart to them. He had to care about his crew. It wasn’t just the rowing but his crewmates that he had to give himself up to, even if it meant getting his feelings hurt.

Pocock paused and looked up at Joe. ‘If you don’t like some fellow in the boat, Joe, you have to learn to like him. It has to matter to you whether he wins the race, not just whether you do.’”

Isn’t this true for all us humans?

If we’re not fond of some fellow passenger in the boat, we can still care about their well-being, their journey, their heart.

Can we let it matter to us whether others win the race, too, not just whether we do?

Let’s care about our crew today.

* * *

Are there people in your boat that get on your nerves? How do you handle your irritation? Please share in the comments.

revised from the archives

Most of us have heard this famous quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

It’s a beautiful truth.

Dr. King’s words are as powerful in our decade as they were in the 1960s.

Yet King said many more things than the few famous quotes we hear the third Monday of every January. I pass along a challenge to you that was given to me some years ago: read more of King’s original works.

One of my favorites is a collection of his sermons in Strength to Love. Many of the quotes below are from that book.

You can find King’s words online and in print quite easily. If you want to further the cause of equality and love in our country, read some of these inspired words.

And then use what you read by loving those around you.

• Whoever they are.
• Whatever they look like.
• Whatever they believe.

We’re all in this together.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope. Only in this way shall we live without the fatigue of bitterness and the drain of resentment.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love

And if you need to hear Dr. King’s voice again, listen here.

[If you can’t see the video, watch here]

Quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.”

~ * ~

“It should now be apparent that sincerity and conscientiousness in themselves are not enough. History has proven that these noble virtues may degenerate into tragic vices. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

~ * ~

“Our most fruitful course is to stand firm with courageous determination, move forward nonviolently amid obstacles and setbacks, accept disappointments, and cling to hope.”

~ * ~

“Courage, therefore, is the power of the mind to overcome fear. Unlike anxiety, fear has a definite object which may be faced, analyzed, attacked, and, if need be, endured.”

~ * ~

“We say that war is a consequence of hate, but close scrutiny reveals this sequence: first fear, then hate, then war, and finally deeper hatred.”

~ * ~

“Is there a cure for these annoying fears that pervert our personal lives? Yes, a deep and abiding commitment to the way of love.”

~ * ~

“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

~ * ~

“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.”

* * *

Have you read any of Dr. King’s writings? His “I have a dream” speech? Please share in the comments.

revised from the archives

Related:

• The Dark Chapters
• When You’re the Minority
• Color Blind? Us vs Them

]]> https://lisanotes.com/only-love-martin-luther-king/feed/ 10 https://lisanotes.com/might-be-an-introvert/ https://lisanotes.com/might-be-an-introvert/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.lisanotes.com/?p=16710 You might be an introvert if . . . You cry easily at commercials You have friends who talk more than you do You prefer texts to phone calls You… ]]>

You might be an introvert if . . .

• You cry easily at commercials
• You have friends who talk more than you do
• You prefer texts to phone calls
• You think small talk is shallow
• You keep your stories short so you won’t waste people’s time
• You prefer to study alone rather than with a group
• You get personal on social media
• You can’t scrapbook with a group
• You’ve been told you’re too sensitive
• You blush easily
• You leave a party with less energy than you arrived with
• You become speechless over a piece of art or a poem or a song
• You’re not labeled a “people person” despite having strong friendships
• You have fewer hobbies but you stick with them
• You hate scary movies
• You can be too tired to talk

It’s been awhile since I’ve read the game-changing book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I’m due for a re-read soon.

Looking back, there were some things I learned brand-new in Quiet. And other things reinforced what I already felt deep in my spirit.

“Introverts may enjoy parties and business meetings up to a point, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas.

They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, colleagues, and family.

They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They dislike conflict. Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.” 
– Susan Cain, Quiet

Introversion Is Not Shyness

Nobody is all introvert or all extrovert. One-third to one-half of us are introverted (but it’s hard to tell because introverts can channel extroversion as needed).

American culture encourages extroversion whereas many eastern cultures respect introversion. (The tipping point for extroversion in America was around 1900; earlier, our culture emphasized the importance of virtuous qualities over having a “good personality.”)

Even though the terms are often usually interchangeably, introversion is not the same thing as shyness.

• Introversion is also not low self-esteem.
• It’s not low IQ.
• It’s not about liking or disliking people.
• It’s not about the ability to carry on a conversation.

Though these qualities—either negative or positive—are often attached to popular definitions of introversion/extroversion, there is no scientific evidence correlating them to either introverts or extroverts.

“Probably the most common—and damaging—misunderstanding about personality type is that introverts are antisocial and extroverts are pro-social.

But . . . neither formulation is correct; introverts and extroverts are differently social.

. . . Your degree of extroversion seems to influence how many friends you have, in other words, but not how good a friend you are.”

So What Is Introversion?

Introversion is about how much stimulation you need to function well.

For introverts, less is more because they’re more sensitive to stimulation than extroverts. Introverts tend to process the world more deeply, thinking and feeling more thoroughly about what they notice.

In infancy, introverts are high-reactive babies, typically very sensitive to their environments. Extroverts, however, are typically low-reactive babies; it takes more stimulation before their nervous systems are overloaded.

The upside for introverts is they are more empathetic and cooperative. Kind and conscientious.

They have thinner boundaries, able to empathize and focus on personal problems of others instead of considering them too heavy for conversation.

They have greater powers of alertness, seeing extra nuances in everyday experiences.

The downside is they may react to stress with more depression and anxiety (and yes, sometimes shyness) than an extrovert.

They can feel more guilt because of their heightened sensitivity to all experiences—positive or negative.

They are also more easily disturbed by cruelty and irresponsibility.

“It can be hard for extroverts to understand how badly introverts need to recharge at the end of a busy day.

We all empathize with a sleep-deprived mate who comes home from work too tired to talk, but it’s harder to grasp that social overstimulation can be just as exhausting.

It’s also hard for introverts to understand just how hurtful their silence can be.”

Summary

Introverts are geared to inspect. They think more and act slower.
Extroverts are geared to respond. They think less and act faster.

Should either try to change? No, except when it’s temporarily appropriate to do so. Otherwise, stay true to yourself.

If you’re an introvert, learn to use it to your advantage. If you’re an extrovert, strengthen your unique skills.

Walk alongside your opposite to complement each other, not compete. Each has much to offer the other.

Whatever your temperament, we all have much to gain by better understanding each other and valuing each other.

Learn to appreciate and use your type. 

* * *

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Is your partner the same or opposite? Please share in the comments.

revised from the archives

]]> https://lisanotes.com/might-be-an-introvert/feed/ 25 https://lisanotes.com/has-god-given-you-reading-and-writing-to-do/ https://lisanotes.com/has-god-given-you-reading-and-writing-to-do/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000 https://lisanotes.com/?p=28253 “If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?” It might surprise you to hear who said that. It’s Stephen King. Stephen King… ]]>

“If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?”

It might surprise you to hear who said that.

It’s Stephen King.

Stephen King is not an author I usually read. Too scary. When his first break-through novel-turned-movie came on TV, I watched Carrie.

It was a mistake. Because King knows how to show a story you won’t forget. And I’d rather forget a story like Carrie, but I still haven’t.

Stephen King is that good.

He knows what he’s meant to do, so he does it. “If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?”

What has God given you to do?

There are days I couldn’t give you a clear answer. On some days I might see a lot of things God has given me to do. On other days, it may feel like nothing at all, and certainty nothing of importance. 

But on most days, I feel a deep call from God to spend time with words. Writing, reading, learning, memorizing.

King must feel that urging, too. He knows he is meant to read and write. He explains it in his nonfiction book, On Writing.

In the book, King answers this question: “Do you do it for the money, honey?”

“The answer is no. Don’t now and never did.

“. . . I have written because it fulfilled me. Maybe it paid off the mortgage on the house and got the kids through college, but those things were on the side—I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”

What brings you joy? What could you do forever? What delight has God planted in your heart?

Is it reading and writing, too? God has taught me SO much through reading, and I know he has much more to teach me through books. Authors are some of my most valued teachers. 

And though I rarely label myself an author, even as I write, I learn, too. To make sense of a struggle, I often have to write it out. God works through words to bring me clarity and guidance. 

I thank God for reading and writing. They both bring me joy.

Both reading and writing show me God. 

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Can you handle Stephen King books? (The only other King book I’ve read is 11/22/63; it was fabulous but also intense!) Do you call yourself a writer? A reader? Share your thoughts in the comments.

revised from the archives

I resisted reading Spiritual Depression for awhile because the title sounds, well, depressing.

But the book is anything but depressing. 

The book is actually a collection of sermons that Martyn Lloyd-Jones delivered on consecutive Sunday mornings at Westminster Chapel in response to the need for more joy among Christians. It was originally published in 1965 and has since become a classic among Christian literature.

Enjoy this short excerpt on the connection between joy and knowing God.

: : :

Excerpt from Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure

Man is meant to know God. So the question is: Do you know God?

I am not asking if you believe in God, or if you believe certain things about Him.

To be a Christian is to have eternal life, and as our Lord says in John 17.3: ‘This is life eternal to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.’

So the test we apply to ourselves is that. Not, `Have I done this or that?’

My test is a positive one: `Do I know God? Is Jesus Christ real to me?’

I am not asking whether you know things about Him but do you know God, are you enjoying God, is God the centre of your life, the soul of your being, the source of your greatest joy? He is meant to be.

He made man in such a way that that was to be the position, that man might dwell in communion with God and enjoy God and walk with God.

You and I are meant to be like that.
– Martyn Lloyd-Jones

: : :

This excerpt originally appeared in the series, 31 Days of Books. Find more excerpts here.

I put this quote on a sticky note. I posted it on my bedroom mirror to remind me to keep first things first.

The primary thing God wants from us is not improved moral behavior (which will come), but to love God because he first loves us.
– James Bryan Smith

It’s important to keep things in proper order.

The first thing is to know that God loves us. Then our love for him will follow, as will our behavior. 

Enjoy this excerpt below from an excellent book by James Bryan Smith. 

: : :

Excerpt from The Good and Beautiful God

Our thoughts about God will determine not only who we are but how we live. We can predict the “spiritual future” of a person just by knowing what they think about God.

What we think about God—what we think God is like—will determine the relationship we have with God.

If we think of God as harsh and demanding, we will probably cower in fear and keep our distance from God. If we think of God as a vague and impersonal force in the universe, we will probably have a vague and impersonal relationship with this god.

That’s why it’s crucial that we have the right thoughts about God. It will determine everything we do. If we have low or false views of God, we are actually committing a form of idolatry, worshiping a false god.

What I have discovered is this: when I came to know the God that Jesus revealed, I absolutely fell in love with God.

The more I grasp about the nature and work of the triune God, the more I am enthralled with the truth, goodness and beauty of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I want to turn your attention to the God Jesus reveals.

His God is good and beautiful, loving and trustworthy, self-sacrificial and forgiving, powerful and caring, and out for our good.

– James Bryan Smith

: : :

updated from the archives

I’m continuing to learn from the book without opening it again (yet). It took me 4 months to get through it the first time. I finished it in April.

Since then, I’ve been listening to the podcasts centered on Richard Rohr’s book, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe.

It’s deep.

As with the book, I know I’m not catching everything in the podcast. But as I skirt around the fringes of the message, I hope I am getting closer to the center with each passing.

And eventually, I hope to reread The Universal Christ and understand even more about the message of hope and beauty and the oneness of Christ.

For now, I’ve been rereading through the quotes I marked in the book. Here are nine quotes from the first few chapters.

“The essential function of religion is to radically connect us with everything. (Re-ligio = to re-ligament or reconnect.) It is to help us see the world and ourselves in wholeness, and not just in parts.”

~ * ~

“Contemplation is waiting patiently for the gaps to be filled in, and it does not insist on quick closure or easy answers.”

~ * ~

“Remember, light is not so much what you directly see as that by which you see everything else. This is why in John’s Gospel, Jesus Christ makes the almost boastful statement ‘I am the Light of the world’ (John 8:12).”

~ * ~

“Many are still praying and waiting for something that has already been given to us three times: first in creation; second in Jesus; and third, in the ongoing beloved community (what Christians call the Body of Christ), which is slowly evolving throughout all of human history (Romans 8:18ff.). We are still in the Flow.”

~ * ~

“Seeing and recognizing are not the same thing.”

~ * ~

“We have faith in Christ so we can have the faith of Christ.”

~ * ~

“You are a child of God, and always will be, even when you don’t believe it.”

~ * ~

“In God you do not include less and less; you always see and love more and more.”

~ * ~

“We must—yes, must—make a daily and even hourly choice to focus on the good, the true, and the beautiful.”

* * *

Listen to the podcasts here on The Universal Christ (Another Name for Every Thing) with Richard Rohr.

Do you have a favorite Richard Rohr book? Is there a book you have read that you need to reread to fully understand it? Please share in the comments.

“My story is about moving from certainty, through doubt, to faith. It’s not about the answers I found but about the questions I asked, questions I suspect you might be asking too. It’s not a pretty story, or even a finished story. It’s a survival story.”
– Rachel Held Evans

The Loss of RHE

I look at my keyboard. I see it’s happening again.

The letters are going away.

It’s a pattern I’ve noticed. On my old computer keyboards, I typed away the letters A, S, and N. The letters rubbed off the keys from overuse.

And now, the A, S, and N are starting to blur on my current keyboard, too.

(Factoid: The three most used keys are supposedly the space bar, the letter E, and the backspace.)

Last Saturday morning, we all lost RHE.

Maybe you saw the trending hashtag #BecauseofRHE and read story after story about her.

Here’s why.

RIP, Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans—a Christian author, blogger, speaker, mother, wife—died at 37 years old on May 4, 2019. (The doctors initially suspected complications from an allergic reaction to antibiotics for an infection. But symptoms also suggest encephalitis.)

The world mourns. I mourn.

Even though I never met Rachel in person, I knew her through her words. I read her books. Her blog. Her tweets. I listened to her on podcasts and interviews.

Her letters were used over and over.

We readers hate to lose another stellar spiritual writer, another inspiring faith friend.

I felt this same way after the death of Tim Hansel, December 13, 2009; Dallas Willard, May 8, 2013; Jerry Bridges, March 6, 2016; Eugene Peterson, October 22, 2018.

And now Rachel Held Evans, May 4, 2019. We’ll hear no more evolutionary new words from her. We won’t see what she would have done next.

We won’t have her clearing a path in front for us to follow.

Ask the Questions

Rachel led the way through her questions. She grew up in a conservative Christian tradition that sometimes skirted the hard questions or buried them in platitudes.

When Rachel began searching for answers on her own, she discovered a bigger God than she’d been taught to believe. God still didn’t provide all the answers she wanted. But he taught her to make peace with the questions.

Rachel was studious, insightful, and deeply in love with Jesus. Instead of losing her faith through the doubts, she grew her faith through them. Instead of loving God less, she loved him more.

And through her, we did, too.

“But the truth is, I’ve found people to be much more receptive to the gospel when they know becoming a Christian doesn’t require becoming a know-it-all. Most of the people I’ve encountered are looking not for a religion to answer all their questions but for a community of faith in which they can feel safe asking them.“

But because of her questions, Rachel was often hit from inside church walls. Her views weren’t welcomed among all. She took the shots.

“With Scripture, we’ve not been invited to an academic fraternity; we’ve been invited to a wrestling match. We’ve been invited to a dynamic, centuries-long conversation with God and God’s people that has been unfolding since creation, one story at a time. If we’re lucky, it will leave us with a limp.”

Like many of us, Rachel walked with a limp.

And Now?

Eventually every writer will use up the words they’ve been given to say in this life, either by disinterest, or disease, or death.

But the troubling thing about losing our artists is we lose another lens to see God. When writers scribble down their picture of God, we see a new side of God, too. I learned to broaden my perspective of God through word pictures from Rachel. And Tim, Dallas, Jerry, Eugene, and many, many others.

Where do we go from here, with more letters scrubbed off our keyboard? What will we do without RHE?

1. We keep reading her written words.

I’ll keep returning to Rachel’s books (see the list below), just like I do other authors (all the way back to Moses) who no longer write fresh words. With Rachel’s words, we continue to nurture our love for Jesus through church, through the Bible, through Holy Spirit.

And we nurture our love for God’s grace.

“Perhaps we’re afraid that if we get out of the way, this grace thing might get out of hand. Well, guess what? It already has.

“Grace got out of hand the moment the God of the universe hung on a Roman cross and with outstretched hands looked out upon those who had hung him there and declared ‘Father, forgive them for they know now what they do.’

“Grace has been out of hand for more than two thousand years now. We best get used to it.“

Rachel was a champion for grace.

2. We turn the old words into new experiences.

Christian authors don’t publish books simply for their own growth; they want us to live them out in our own ways. They inspire us to create fresh and original experiences with God ourselves.

“So perhaps a better question than, ‘Do I believe in miracles?’ is, ‘Am I acting like I do?’ Am I including the people who are typically excluded? Am I feeding the hungry and caring for the sick? Am I holding the hands of the homeless and offering help to addicts?”

Rachel encouraged us all to live the gospel, not just preach (or worse, argue) about it.

3. We seek God’s voice among new voices.

Fortunately, we live in an age where new voices are speaking up all around us. Through the guidance of Holy Spirit, we continue listening, weighing, learning from those still on the journey here, integrating them with voices from the past. Keep adding new authors to your reading list.

“Indeed it’s easier to remember things together than alone.”

A Resilient Faith

Ironically, since Rachel was known for her questions, she leaves us with a new question: Why did Rachel die young?

We ask God for an explanation; we don’t get adequate answers.

But even in this, as Rachel once said, the Christian faith won’t fall apart.

“Faith is more resilient than that. Like a living organism, it has a remarkable ability to adapt to change. At our best, Christians embrace this quality, leaving enough space for God to surprise us every now and then.”

Even if you’ve never read a book or article by Rachel Held Evans, you’ve likely still been influenced by her through someone else who did read her works. That’s the way community works. None of us are Christians on our own.

Rachel said,

“Like it or not, following Jesus is a group activity, something we’re supposed to do together.

“We might not always do it within the walls of church or even in an organized religion, but if we are to go about making disciples, confessing our sins, breaking bread, paying attention, and preaching the Word, we’re going to need one another. We’re going to need each other’s help.”

Rachel, you were one of our helps.

We’ll mourn your loss, our RHE. But we’ll continue to hear your voice.

“It’s about all the strange ways God brings dead things back to life again. It’s about giving up and starting over again.”

* * *

Do you have a favorite book by Rachel? What author do you wish you heard more from? Do you have a favorite new author?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Rachel’s Books:

• Faith Unraveled
  How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions
  2010/2014
  (previous published as Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions)
  Kindle version on sale $2.99
• A Year of Biblical Womanhood
  How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master
  2012
• Searching for Sunday
  Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
  2015
  Kindle version on sale $0.99
• Inspired
  Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
  2018

A Different Request

I can tell this Saturday will be different.

The lead church-of-the-month—it alternates every month—isn’t here. A hiccup in plans.

But Fran has made sure all the bases are covered: there will be worship music; there will be a message from the Word; there will be food enough for all (thanks, Scruggs BBQ). Outdoor Church is important to our homeless and local underserved community. They gather at Manna House each month for this.

When I see Larry in charge, I also know it will be different. Larry is a humble pastor. He knows these folks by name. He sees their hearts and works in their lives and believes in a God who is bigger than every circumstance.

So when Larry says we will begin differently, I’m not too surprised. But when he says we’ll start by all praying aloud together, I know this is new for Outdoor Church.

I wonder about a couple of guys in the back. They are already rowdy. Others are still heads-down, talking to no one. Mixed in are “church people,” who know formal prayers and formal ways.

I’m not sure what the response will be to Larry’s request to “Let’s all pray at the same time out loud.”

Public Prayer as Grace

Prayer is a strange enough phenomena as it is.

• Why does God want our prayers anyway?
• Does he answer those who pray in doubt?
• Are repetitious prayers kicked out?

I’ve started reading a 500-year-old book (on my Kindle, the irony) about spiritual disciplines, including prayer. Tim Challies has invited us to read it together (join in—this is week 1!). It is Holy Helps for a Godly Life by Richard Rogers, a Puritan author, “the Enoch of his age.” It’s been revised this year for our modern ears.

While the overall focus of the book is on spiritual disciplines and grace, this week’s chapters (1-3) focus on three public means of grace: the ministry of the Word, the sacraments, and public prayers.

But the same practices are just as relevant now as in 1500.

There’s a fine line between doing to receive, and receiving to do.

“But godliness never flourishes unless it is planted in the fertile soil of God’s grace. Legalism subverts the gospel.”
– Brian G. Hedges (in the Preface, Holy Helps for a Godly Life)

So when offered to do one of these means of grace—public prayers—with the group on Saturday morning, I am eager to accept.

And I am curious to see what will happen in our ragtag group.

The Prayer that Stirs

Larry begins. Eyes close. And mouths open.

Little by little, I hear murmurings from those around me. I search my own heart and begin praying for my sweet friend Erma who is sitting beside me. We see each other often at Manna House. I know she has needs, like all of us, and I know she has faith. It is easy to pray for her.

As the minutes tick off, the crowd continues to chatter aloud to God. It is a beautiful noise. Then Larry gets louder again, with these words:

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

And to my surprise, the crowd joins in full and strong. In sync and connected.

Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

It is a holy moment.

Amen.

There are those who claim public recitations of prayers are in vain. That prayers need to be spontaneous. That they need to be spoken one person at a time, in an orderly fashion, with somber tone and words.

But not on this Saturday morning.

“For if the content is erroneous, then the words pronounced do not make it good; and if the content is good and pure, then the reading cannot make it evil.”
– Richard Rogers

This cacophony of prayer is drenched in grace and received by faith. It is a divine gift of participation.

For at least these sacred moments, our crowd is a community. The rumble has become one voice. And there is an awareness of Presence stronger than has existed before.

Rogers is right:

“Let them resolve together what must be granted: that public prayers are a help to stir up God’s graces in us and to convey to us the many good blessings of God, which we need.”

Grace is stirred up. God’s many good blessings have arrived in us. We need them. Amen.

* * *

Join in at Tim Challies’ blog or his Facebook page for the first three (short) chapters of Holy Helps for a Godly Life. Then read a few more chapters for next Thursday’s discussion.

Do you participate in public prayers? When have you been particularly moved by a prayer offering? Please share in the comments.

Steep mountain roads scare me. High bridges. The St. Louis Arch.

But not airplanes. Nor snakes (not too much anyway). Nor dentists.

Our rankings of fears are as individual as we are.

Maybe that’s because our ranking of desires are as individual as we are, too.

In Edward T. Welch’s excellent book on fear, Running Scared, he says,

“Listen to your fears and you hear them speak about things that have personal meaning to you. They appear to be attached to things we value.”

Maybe that’s why we fear for the safety of family members. For our own health. Of being hurt.

“There is a close connection between what we fear and what we think we need. If we need comfort, we will fear physical pain. If we need approval from others, we will fear being criticized. If we need love, we will fear rejection. If we need admiration for our attractiveness, we will fear getting fat. Whatever you need is a mere stone’s throw from what you fear.”

But instead of running from our fears, Welch says to step closer.

“Rather than minimize your fears, find more of them. Expose them to the light of day because the more you find, the more blessed you will be when you hear words of peace and comfort.”

Behind many of our fears is the lack of control. We don’t like being dependent on others, on circumstances, even God. Humility doesn’t come naturally to us.

But the way to overcome fear isn’t to have more control; it’s to replace it with something stronger. What’s the strongest thing possible? Love from God.

God’s love manifests itself in many ways, from directly feeling it, to seeing the gifts he gives us daily, to how we’re able to love others.

With God’s love, we do braver things.

Welch points out, “A woman with a fear of water will lose that fear if her child is in danger of drowning.” When what we love is greater than our fear of not having it, we shift.

That love is grace.

“Grace to believe that God is good. Grace to have joy even while the body is wasting away. Grace to cry out and be certain that God hears. Grace to know that you are not alone. Grace to trust rather than fear. Grace to know that death is not the end.”

And grace to ride the steep mountain roads to reach the top. When your desire for the view is greater than your fear of the road, know God is present.

His views are always worth it.

Mount Rainier, Aug 2016

More Quotes from Running Scared

“The God who calls you to trust in him when you are afraid will spend a great deal of time showing you that you can trust him. He doesn’t ask you to live with your eyes shut. Faith is not blind.”

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“Most human beings respond to cries for help. When they do, it is because they are in some small way chips off the old block. They are looking like their Father.”

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“Whenever Scripture says anything about God hearing, watch out, because you know something is about to happen. When God hears, he acts.”

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“He doesn’t hear because of us and the quality of our prayers. He hears because he is the God Who Hears.”

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“One of the strategies for dealing with worry is to be overtaken by something more important than the object of your worries.”

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“If I can trust the word of a friend, why do I question the word of the God of the universe? Go figure. Sin is truly bizarre.”

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“If the difficulty you anticipate comes upon you, you will receive grace to know God’s love and grace to love someone else.”

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When has your love been greater than your fear? If fears bother you too, I highly recommend Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest.

Please share your thoughts in the comments.