Choosing the Risky Life

It’s easy to be a white-washed tomb.

But in the name of doing right and being right, we sacrifice a lot — mostly people . . . ourselves and others. We sacrifice relationships and the opportunity to experience life.

We hide behind our neatly scrubbed walls, hollow on the inside. We can’t be satisfied with ourselves or anyone else, so we nitpick every little thing. We isolate ourselves in our holy bubbles. We make great Pharisees.

If we want to live, to create, to be passionate, to make a difference, we must take risks. We might have to give up our perceptions of right and wrong. Even the Pharisees, the experts, couldn’t understand that love was more important than the law.

We might have to risk:

• breaking societal etiquette by pouring our most expensive perfume on a traveler’s nasty feet.
• trusting another by allowing him to rub mud and spit on our blind eyes.
• silencing logic and reason by dipping in dirty waters seven times.
• pissing off those in authority by speaking up for the deliverance of the oppressed.
• putting our pride aside by opening our arms to the child who wasted his inheritance and years of his life.

What do we want — the messy adventure of loving vulnerably, or the prideful experience of being right? A life courageously lived comes with great risk. Will it be perfect? Absolutely not. But will it be worth it? Absolutely.

And for all the messiness, there’s grace . . . grace to give our gift; to open our eyes; to be healed; to speak up when the time is right; and to embrace that which has caused us to ache.