Risky Business

If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?  

                      ~Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

Last week Alexander (our 14 year old) took a tumble on a dirt bike resulting in a compound fracture of his lower left tibia. Consequence: unable to ride his BMX bike at the skate park in the next 6-8 weeks. Life is full of risks. As a parent I am tempted to say that the dirt bike incident should not have happened. What was he doing riding a motorcycle without our supervision? He is inexperienced and the bike was too powerful and... and so on and so on. But life is full of risks. And we can't be there all the time for him and he will need to grow his own wisdom to guide him in his decisions. A hip-to-heel cast is providing him with a bit of life experience and the concurrent wisdom.

One of Alexander's many responses to the accident is to say that he will never get on a dirt bike again. He is free to make that choice. It is not, however, my encouragement to him. Rather, I suggest that he learn from the experience and apply that learning to his next attempt, should he desire to give it another go. In the words of Benjamin Disraeli, "there is no education like adversity."

Life IS full of risks. It is risky to cross the street, to make investments, to give birth, to love, to leave, to stay. It is risky to try any new venture, it is risky to hold back. Maybe the risk is a bit of what makes life spicy and delicious. Somehow the risks of life stir our passions, they take us a bit closer to the edge and we experience life more intensely. And if not for the risk we take, the road ahead is simply not traveled. 

I wonder if risk-taking is perhaps quintessentially human? Soren Kierkegaard stated, "To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily.  To not dare is to lose oneself." Is it in our DNA to risk, to try new things, to hunger for the view on the far side of the horizon? Humanity, for all of its ills and shortcomings is still an amazing creature which dares to stretch and test its limits. And what wonders have been born from our stretching. Acts of kindness, advances in medicine and technology, incredible physically feats, business ventures... on and on the list goes, all because someone took a risk.

Perhaps it boils down to our heritage. We are created by God, in God's image, and God is a radical risk-taker. After all, God risked creating us and setting us loose in the universe. Then, God risked by incarnating in Jesus with the desire that we should awaken to Love's potential within us. Big risk. But when I hear the story of a 14-year-old confirmation student telling about volunteering to clean a neighbor's house or another who will  serve special needs kids at camp, or read to a paraplegic woman - then I realize that the risk of God to Love us is bearing fruit.

So my encouragement is to risk - take a crazy wild chance and see where it goes. There is something you've been thinking about doing for a long time, playing with the idea in your head, "should I our shouldn't I?" Well, unless you take the leap you will never know the gift of what could be.

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take. 

 ~Wayne Gretzky

There may be an act of kindness waiting for you to make it happen, or a relationship to begin, or one to end. A business venture has been calling your name, or a move to a new community, a service project, maybe a cleaning, a releasing, a forgiveness that has been tugging at your soul... It's true that, like Alexander, you might get on and discover that you are getting more than you bargained for; there are no guarantees. However,  in the words of John A. Shedd, "A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are for." (Salt from My Attic)
In the end, Alexander's risk is supported by family and friends. We help him up and down the stairs and he is encouraged by a staunch group of Junior High supporters. And that is life - risk, learn, lean on community, risk again.
I leave the last word to one of humanity's great risk-takers:

“Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”
(Matthew 19:26, MSG)

Remember, we're all in this together 

Pastor Bill

Slow down
for a
moment

just be
still

listen
deep inside

wisdom speaks
in the
quiet
places

Breathe deeply
out
and in

and be guided
by her
voice