Yesterday, I was challenged to look at the idea of what leading with fear really means. For example, when I set up a yoga class, do I include poses that I don’t have the ability to do yet but understand the mechanics or do I shy away thinking I must master the pose first (ego)? Another example, do I set up a yoga class with crazy tricks and creative moves because I fear that people will not be impressed with me if I chose something more traditional? For me the idea of leading with fear begs that I ask myself 2 questions: Who am I? What feels true to me at this point in my journey?
Richard Rohr says, “We always become what we behold; the presence that we practice matters.” Do I have a God that threatens and punishes and decides who is in and out of heaven? Do I watch news or TV shows that remind me to fear my neighbor, fear my possessions being taken from me (healthcare, guns, job)? Do I listen to idle gossip that makes me fear for my kids, my community or my church? If God is a fearful bully, then add what I watch and what I listen to and I guarantee that I will lead my life out of a place of fear.
But, if what if God as trinity is God as participant in all things? If God stands within all of life and not on the outside, then God operates out of a place of inclusion, a place of welcome. Richard Rohr in Divine Dance asks these questions:
Instead of God watching life happen from afar and judging it….
How about God being inherent in life itself?
How about God being the Life Force of everything?
Instead of God being an Object life any other object…How about God being the Life Energy between each and every object?
This allows God to be much larger, at least coterminous with the ever larger universe we are discovering, and totally inclusive—wat else could any God worthy of the name be? (p. 36-37)
Leading my life with authenticity instead of from a place of fear takes me connecting to the One True and Loving God as revealed in all of creation, knowing my ever-evolving self, the unique person God created me to be, and then continuing to check in to see if my actions come from a genuine place of love. Grace is that no matter how I am leading my life (out of fear or love), God will find a way to use what I offer!! Just like my yoga students will get something out of any practice I offer, but I still want to offer my best so that they leave feeling better than when they first walked onto their mat😊
Amber Mattingly 