I was recently introduced to a collection of blessings by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie called “The Lives We Actually Have, 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days”. With a title like that, how could I resist?
Certainly not all faith practices, compositions, or interpretations seem intended for, or even capable of addressing the lives we actually have. Too often I read something composed by someone who has either never experienced difficulty, or seems to think allowing others to discover otherwise would be bad. I tend to believe otherwise. I believe that God meets us where we are, and that grace is sufficient.
Last week in worship we considered how God may be calling us to give up the hold fear has on us, of the ways fear can guide our decisions. And this week, as I’ve continued to consider fear in my own life – shifting from considering as a sermon preached to a sermon experienced – I was reminded of one of the
blessings from the book, and I share it with you. Bowler and Richie point to 2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (NKJV) – and then offer this prayer for The Lives We Actually Have.
Rev. Ben Richards
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For courage when you don’t feel very brave
God, I have no idea what courage is
or how to muster it,
but I know I need it.
Fear is taking up too much space
and I have so little bandwidth left.
God, if courage is a gift, then please give it.
And if it is a thing for me to learn,
then show me how.
For blessed are the brave.
Those who perform big courageous
acts of sacrifice.
Those who move toward fear and danger
so the rest of us feel a little more safe.
May we also learn bravery
in small acts of great love.
We who grieve, even if we feel like
we are doing it all wrong.
We who have received the bad news and take the
next right step towards what must be done.
We who sit in the shards of a life
that has come undone.
We who hold another’s hands
on their hardest days.
We who serve and pour out and keep loving,
no matter the cost.
We who live still,
brave and scared at the same time.
Perhaps fear is not something to be vanquished,
but rather that strange friend who tells us
who we love, and what we can’t live without.
So bless us, God.
In our fear. In our shaky hope.
Because brave looks like that too, sometimes.
