I read a book not long ago entitled “Who Moved My Cheese?” which contained a rather obvious set of little wisdom comments to help people see where they are in their lives and where they should be moving. I agree with much of it and disagree with some of it, but one part really sang for me. The question was “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?” It has occurred to me many times that fear keeps us from really living they way we should, the way God made us to live. Faith is what should kill fear. What do we have to fear really? If the Lord is with us and fear is ridicules for there is nothing to fear living in the palm of God’s hand.
But we are all creatures of the fall. We all have our doubts and sins that pull us away from the perfect confidence that we should have in God. In our personal relationships we have to face the double jeopardy of not only dealing with our own fallen nature, but in dealing with the fallen nature of the other person. We are going to be hurt, so we put up our defenses and attempt to protect ourselves in the process we close off parts of ourselves and deny letting love touch certain things within us. We don’t share completely, we can’t give ourselves entirely and we can’t accept love unconditionally.
But how would it all change if we weren’t afraid? What if we were to open our hearts completely?
Real, sacrificial love is capable of loving completely. The marriage relationship is especially created for the idea of loving with a heart completely open. The 31 Proverb says: “When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.” What a wonderful thing to be able to entrust not just his household and his worldly goods but his heart to his wife. The reward for this trust an unfailing prize. How would we love if we weren’t afraid?
Simply Catholic 