This past Sunday I went to church. This is the second time this year!!! In
100 things about me # 75 was I don't like going to church and #76 was I
hope that changes. So twice in a year is great for me.
It being Independence/4th of July weekend and all, the pastor's sermon
was about Freedom. He went through several Bible verses that detail all
of the things that we are free from: sin, death, fear, guilt, etc, etc,
etc... I'm not going to cover those verses here. I'll leave that to
someone more qualified like my brother who studied at the seminary and who
has talked about starting his very own blog.
Anyway, the sermon did leave me thinking about my (our) own freedom to
Chase Joy. On July 4th 1776 it was declared one of our unalienable
Rights. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT
OF HAPPINESS."
So if it is my (our) legal right to Chase Joy, and my spirituality/faith
grants me (us) the freedom to Chase Joy. Why haven't I (we) caught
it???? Am I not Chasing it as rigorously as I think? Am I only barley
grasping at Joy as it whizzes by lapping me on the track of life? Am I not
giving it my all? Or am I giving it all I've got but still being held
back by invisible shackles of fear that deny me the Freedom to Chase Joy
with all my might??? Shackles that keep me chained in a cell we often
misleadingly call our comfort zone?
How do I get these chains off me? God has told me I'm free. My country
has told me It is my unalienable right. So the only thing holding me
back is myself, (and maybe a few Joy Thieves but I know what to do with
them), specifically my FEARS. I am afraid of embarrassment. I am afraid of disappointing others. I am afraid of being disappointed. I fear the changes that come with success. I fear the consequences of failure. I am afraid of opening my heart. I am afraid of loneliness. The good thing about fear is the more you talk (or blog) about it the less power it has over
you. When you put them out there you see how silly they are.
So start picking that lock on the invisible shackles that hold you back. What are you afraid of? What Fears do you need to become independent of to Freely Chase Joy???
Picture Credit