Lessons from the Desert

I have moved through many locations this winter and spring.  Each location and group of leaders is different in some ways than the previous group, but also very familiar in other ways.  This time I am in the southwest of the United States with its stark beauty and unforgiving terrain that seems to go on as far as the eye can see.

I have the opportunity to do some hiking on this trip.  I am doing it alone in unfamiliar territory.  The sharp terrain reminds me of the sharp edges of life.  I had just been telling a group of leaders that no one is immune to these hard edges of life and that we need to live amidst our difficulties.  To do this we have to let go of our fears that we tenaciously hold on to knowing at some deep level that we worry that we cannot hold the intensity of the experience.

I forge ahead looking for a confirmation of my courage, feeling very vulnerable.  I encounter a cactus full of beautiful flowers, all glistening in the sun surrounded by the sharp edges of the cactus and terrain.  It reminds me of the exhilaration of a life with new experiences and one with space for the unknown.  The fear in me has died another day.  Now I see the sharp edge of the horizon ahead as an invitation to be alive instead of a fearful boundary that will stop me. 

When was the last time you died to live?