The market had just peaked when we put our home up for sale in 2007.

Of course, we did not know this was a ‘peak’ (we’d be millionaires if we could predict these things).  So we were really excited about the prospect of seeing a healthy return from a lakefront home we had taken two years to gut and put back together.

But then, it didn’t sell. In six months. In a year. In 18 months.  And there we were, living across the state, paying a mortgage, taxes, and upkeep on an empty home that wasn’t selling. And as the clocked ticked we lived with the constant fear of serious financial uncertainty.

Can you relate?

Sure, our home finally sold (for half of what we’d originally asked) and we came away with many lessons.

One is, that we would do it all over again.

Why? Why put yourself in that fearful place again?

Because the only way to get rid of fear is to stop doing the things that cause it – like taking risks, putting yourself out there, doing something that may fail.

Fear is not the enemy. Stasis is. Inactivity is. Idleness, apathy, stillness will kill us off more completely than taking the risk.  As Seth Godin puts it, the only option is to learn to dance with our fear.

In Sunday’s Gospel a roomful of fearful disciples meet the resurrected Jesus.  Their fear is transformed to fervor, they’ve reached a tipping point, and they are now able to go out and change the world. How? Their dance partner is Jesus. They are able to move through their fears knowing that God is with them.

How about us? What fearful things have we been avoiding? What fearful things should we be doing? The best assurance we have of knowing we are leading a life worth living is to make sure we are doing things that cause us fear. How are we inviting God to be our dance partner as we work through our fear?