The Audacity of Faith

Take A Leap!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the Winter of Despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.”

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (written in the mid-1800s)

Today, we may feel as though we are living in an era of epochal, radical, and unprecedented change. Change appears to be happening so suddenly that we often feel anxious, hopeless, and unable to cope. These times have generated such a massive consciousness of fear that it informs and taints our perspective on every level of existence — personally, locally, and globally.

There will likely never be a permanent cure for ‘personal’ problems. We’re all here on this planet, either crawling or jogging along the learning curve.

I believe that what dramatically differentiates our times from those of Dickens, for most of us, is the shift from local to global awareness. Information now travels at the speed of light, and millions of people on Earth have devices that allow them to access it immediately.

We live in an era of rapidly changing technological and information saturation, which has immense global importance and impact. However, by the time we’ve reviewed and considered the data, formed an opinion, or developed a preference, the information (and technology) that led us there has often already changed. The issues facing us are monumental and can be viewed as catastrophic and seemingly unsolvable, which is creating a sort of mass malaise, high anxiety, hopelessness, rage, and despair.

I find it a full-time job…365/24/7…to overcome, release, override, ignore, and deny fearful thoughts (which are primarily based on the dead past or the imagined future). In my experience, the energy of fear taints the outcome of any desired manifestation. And, I’ll admit that, although I endeavor to make the conscious decision Not~To~Be~Fearful, it doesn’t always hold for many reasons. That’s why, for me, one of the most valuable and simple ways to practice overcoming fear and restore calm is contained within:

The Serenity Prayer

“Creator, please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Caveat: just because we may be able to accept the things we cannot change doesn’t mean we agree with them, like them, want them, or can tolerate them. The power is in learning that with wisdom, we can work toward changing those things with courage.

And now a word about Faith!

Why not just decide to take Leaps of It?

If what we have always regarded and become accustomed to as truth and certainty has changed (keeps changing) for better or for worse, then that which is being imagined and implemented to replace it, can be for better or worse as well, depending on the kind of energy we, ourselves, lend to it.

Maybe it takes a leap of faith, like Indiana Jones, discovered in The Last Crusade, when he stood on the edge of the abyss…the Chalice hopelessly out of reach, the life of his father hanging in the balance…the edge of the chasm breaking away with him on it and no way to go back! Considering his options, it didn’t take Indie long to take a deep breath and Step Off into the unknown. He could never have anticipated that, waiting for him to take that leap in faith, were pillars that would rise up, positioned precisely, to further him on his mission!

Indiana is one of my favorite action-figure archetypes because he depicts the power of passion directed toward a singularly focused intention, resulting in progress forward, while having one hell of an adventure doing it! And although we can be generally relieved that our challenges don’t come as fast and furiously as he likes them to, the truth is that there will always be challenges that require some action or movement, either forward or back.

We don’t have the luxury, and we’ve never had the guarantee that our problems — personal, local, or global — could be solved all at once or even just once. As we begin to understand the depth and complexity of our concerns regarding life on this planet, which are becoming increasingly interdependent and codependent, our solutions require wisdom and perspective. We each have a unique part to play.

It’s a daunting prospect no matter what. But, particularly if our perspective is cultivated exclusively by the small-picture models constantly spewed out by the popular media machines. Partisanship, us-against-them factionalism, culture wars, and the dumbing down of control exerted by fearmongers in our contemporary society have served to undermine perspective rather than promote it.

The polarization of fear-based ideologies has made careful, thoughtful, intelligent, and inclusive dialogue — dialogue that could promote more wise, prudent, and valuable solutions — come to a stand-off. Moreover, the meltdown of sureties that has characterized our times has brought with it forms of denial, despair, hopelessness, and rage that are afflicting and endangering our human consciousness. Deceit at the highest levels of authority has contributed to confusion, delusion, and a loss of respect for those whom we trusted to guide us, altering the existential nature of reality for millions of people.

But the world is transforming, and we are transforming along with it, like it or not.

It is my strong feeling that maintaining an audacity of faith and lending our healing, loving energy to the matrix of the construct is the most potent personal action we can take. When we do, we have the potential to positively affect not only our personal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual lives, but also that of our local communities as well. When our personal lives and our local communities feel empowered and hopeful, we can begin to believe that the transformation of the Earth…our global physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual community, is possible as well.

All major religions lean toward the adage that, with faith, all things are possible.

Why not just Take A Leap?

Take A Leap!

There is nothing to lose, and we just might discover pillars of strength, direction, and possibilities awaiting us to cross over the abyss!