As I “put pen to paper”, so to speak, I am choked by a fear. It’s not the fear of failing at this whole blog thing, or that I won’t get any readers. This fear stems from the firm belief I’ve held that in order to blog about something, one must know what the heck they are writing about. In other words, one must not only have an opinion, but be willing to share said opinion for the whole world to see. This alone is cringe worthy, but the fear runs much deeper. Because after the whole world has read your opinion, they then form their own opinion of your opinion, and then you must be ready and willing to defend your opinion. Well, let me tell you right now. I don’t want to defend my opinion. Because the reality is, my opinion changes from year to year, day to day, and sometimes moment to moment.
For example, on a small scale, say you are twenty one years old, and twenty minutes ago, it was your opinion that the last shot of tequila was a fantastic idea…fast forward to praying over the porcelain god, who is now your best friend ‘john’, and it is likely your fervent opinion that the tequila was the devil in a shot glass. Fast forward a few weeks, or months, a year, or a few years later, and perhaps you are ready to take another shot. It is now your opinion that a shot of tequila isn’t a bad idea. Chances are though, you learned at some point, maybe after several points, that there is a limit to the madness. So, your opinion now says that you can handle no more than two shots and a beer over the course of an evening.
At this point my friends, lost in the ramblings of tequila, which you may wisely have never consumed in your entire life, you may be wondering. What the crap does this have to do with grace, and who starts a blog this way? I’ll tell you.
I don’t know.
Yet somehow, now that the fear has been identified and cleared, it no longer exists, because I know, that being the dear friends you are, you will forgive me of any misguided opinions in the future. For wise as you are, you will understand that as soon as the words are written, they are the past, and nothing more. And again, what does any of this have to do with grace? Perhaps a part of grace is the ability to flow through things with ease. Be it fear, self-judgment, your spouse’s company party, or that fiber you had for breakfast, which you are now sharing with your friend, ‘the john’.
And now, by identifying and sharing my fear with you, I have inadvertently stumbled upon the first of my STEPS for Grace, to see the light, and to flow through with ease.
In what ways have you experienced this flow of grace in your life?
