Which is why every time that we take the slightest action, speak the smallest word that heads us in the right direction, it's a small miracle. We've turned off the alarm system! We've overcome the paralysis. We've climbed over the barbed wire fencing of the status quo of our lives and started journeying into a new direction. An unknown one. A direction to inner freedom!
We may be breathless and terrified, but we've done it! We've escaped, we've begun again. We're allowing God's Voice to sound in our souls: "Behold! I make all things new!"
Sacred, life-giving Change begins with a small step. You've allowed yourself to catch a glimpse of the Real You, the Deepest, Shining You, who won't be fettered any more by Fear or Addiction or Procrastination or Unhealthy Relationships. And you feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to act to make this new vision a reality.
You decide to interview for a new job. To write, to sing, to act. You decide to share a family secret with your child. You set a lunch date with an estranged or neglected friend or relative you haven't seen in twenty years. You confront yourself with the jealousy that's harming a work relationship. You re-enter the Church of your childhood.
You hurl the carton of cigarettes in the trash. You begin to make your home an "alcohol-free" zone. You step into the marriage counselor's office or you phone the divorce lawyer or you open the door to the refuge for those escaping domestic abuse. You go to your first N.A. meeting. You get rid of the porno sites on your computer. You take your tired wife out for a "date.'
And after you've done it, after you've taken that first step, said those first words, you may be breathless and terrified, but you can feel that change beginning, you know it's real, you know it's good. It's very, very good.
Each word, or action you choose to free yourself, truly free yourself from a false, destructive, or less-than-you-can-be existence is the biggest step of your life. You've had to overcome every fiber of your being to begin this journey; you'll have to fight a "false you" who yells "Danger!" in your ear every step of the way. But God will help you every step of the way, God Who created you, Who knows you through and through, Who showed you the radiant vision of your Deepest Shining You to encourage you to begin, Who told you that you are good, that you are very, very good.
This God has compassionately looked at you, His creation, and seen the mars, the scars, the fears, the evasions, the sins, the compromises, and said to you that He is capable of re-forming you, of making you anew into the very good person He dreamed you could be. All you have to do is take that first step, say those first words. He will give you the courage to begin. And He will carry you forward every blessed step of your very joyful and blessed way!
If this blog post has encouraged you, please share it with a friend.