safety

“The world is selling safety all the time. By marketing fear.” –Peter Block

at what cost do we choose safety?

safety. our world tells us that safety and security are found externally. the other piece is that safety is found internally. a deep-down well within ourselves where solace and peace are always available.

when things get shaky and uncertainty raises up her inevitable head, fear rushes in. it’s a signal: this is not safe. turn back.

it’s a healthy response. it keeps us safe. thomas hubl beautifully refers to this response as what protects our contract with God. it keeps us alive!

and…we can choose. what is “not safe” is so often about our ego and its demand that things remain as they are, that we do not grow up, that we do not expand, that we stay small and in our place. it hurts to open, to feel, to grow, to heal.

taking a leap faith–whatever the leap (or maybe even just a half a skip)–is scary as hell. it’s why a lot of times we choose against it.

the world counts on that.

the universe, on the other hand…

i’m learning to bow to the fear when it comes, thankful for its good work. and then to choose instead, love.

i am not interested in the safety that the world promises.

i want to drink up life, revel in its flowing waters, ignite the flame of it within me, and embolden mine with yours. i want my knees to shake with humility and to bow down upon the earth and kiss it, grateful and full and in utter awe. and then to stand–rooted and connected–and stomp on the ground with fierceness and love and rage and grief and joy dripping from my divine human body…knowing the truth that this moment, right now, is all that matters.

that knowing is enough to topple empires. it is enough to change the world. it is enough.

it is everything.

nelson mandela’s prayer now comes to heart/mind: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

amen.