Sunday, April 12, 2009

Of Fears and Hopes


It’s Easter Sunday, and a quote from a friend’s facebook handle caught my awareness:

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.
- Robert Flatt


One of the spiritual messages that Easter brings is the gift of resurrection, which the scriptures say was brought about by the atonement of Jesus Christ. He made resurrection available to all mankind and it is a reward free for all. I am not a religious devout or any sort of a pious person but this message of Easter thrills me, as for me, it is also a message of hope – hope for better things.

This Lenten message holds true, and was demonstrated through a recent event in one of my dearest friend’s life. In my previous post, I referred to closures as something not totally necessary in ones moving on. I still hold steadfast to that premise, but I am but happy that my friend was brave enough to seek out that yearned-for closure from his most recent relationship. To drive quickly to my drift, he went on, threw off the bowlines, and sailed on in search of that closure.

He did not find closure. What he found was something even better. He found hope. What he found was a person in need, a person who is broken and needs fixing. My friend stood tall and extended his hand for help, and offered hope. Whether they officially end up being lovers or getting back together was brushed off the picture. What is important now is my friend is going to be there for that person, and be an instrument in God’s hand to make him whole again. They both have started from somewhere now, and hope is shining bright.

In the course of these events, my friend defied FEAR - fear of rejection. Fear of being hurt. Fear of what the other party will say. Fear of putting oneself out there ‘on the line’. Fear of the unknown — what COULD happen! But it was not enough to hinder him to the point of inaction. The fact remained, that if you do not put yourself ‘out there’ sometimes, you won’t get anywhere. No risk, no reward.

Many times we allow an obstacle to get in the way of reconciling. It’s just too easy to say “oh well, I tried.” But on the flipside there are actual solutions. That’s right, every one of them. Despite what the gurus would have you believe, there are no solutions that work 100% of the time, simply because we all possess free will to do as we please. My friend knew what he wanted and bravely went on with it. Having that said, he defied the inability to overcome obstacles.
He has also defied pride. In my friend’s case, there were things said and done in the course of their relationship - things that caused so much pain in him. He could have clung to his pride and recover and cope from those things said and done. It is a basic human desire to be right. Nevertheless, he did not see it that way. He did let pride prevent him from moving to the right direction. He was able to demonstrate humility, and it served him best. Humbling and opening himself up to that special someone made him overlook past mistakes and forgive.

I have heard said that our hopes should always be greater than our fears. Yet again, I have seen it play out in action from this demonstration.

I really like how Robert Flatt put it – start over, no matter what the circumstances may be.