What potential is inherent in the state of being human? One voice urges us to live as if there were nothing in our way, while another cautions us to consider our limits. Throwing ourselves outside those limits is dangerous. It risks us - our comfort, our sanity, the futures we plan for ourselves, and sometimes our very lives. But what if we had no limits? Of course, experience will quickly teach us that we do, so the question is merely theoretical. Here's a better one: What if we acknowledged our limits, took a deep breath, and stepped right over them?
Why would we do that, though? Surely there is no reason to risk everything unless we are fully convinced that whatever we might discover in that place beyond ourselves would be worth the everything we were risking. For that kind of conviction we cannot look to our own hearts. We cannot even look to others. We must look higher. Only in reaching for the heavens can we find the place where our abilities end and Something beyond them must intervene, or we are lost. In that place we are forced to cry for help. Unless we are confident that we will be answered and not only answered but aided, we are not ready to go there. But we're never ready. That's the point. We cannot have full confidence that everything will go in any way we could hope or imagine because the act of stepping beyond our abilities, beyond the facts of our acknowledged failures and incompetencies, requires us to experience what we cannot experience until we surrender our confidence to Something more trustworthy than ourselves.
I'd like to try something with you. Think of something you know you can't do. It doesn't have to be what you consider grand or heroic. Just anything: running more than a mile, singing in front of others, looking over the edge of a cliff, water skiing. You have to be firmly convinced that you can't do it. No cheating, especially at this point.
Once you've chosen an impossible feat, decide why it's impossible. Are you out of shape? Are you tone deaf? Afraid of heights? Afraid you'll drown? Whatever it is that makes the feat impossible, acknowledge it.
Now do it. You know you can't. But pretend that you and someone you love are both going to die if it isn't done. I'm serious. This isn't just for fun. You HAVE to do this! It's all up to you, but...you'll fail. So where do you turn?
Try this: right before you begin the impossible-feat-that-must-be-done, pray. Then don't try to do it yourself. Remind yourself again and again that there is Something beyond you. You can't do this. He can. Believe it.
If you don't really believe, there's no way this is going to work. You have to step past the point where you have any consolation or confidence. Just try it.
Whether or not the feat is successful, please share your thoughts or any lessons you learned. Thank you.
