This blogpost is about the "Three Cs": Curious and Courageous, then Change, and the personal freedom they all produce.
When I was a child, I acted as a child. I was curious and open to all possibilities. Actually we ALL were, because that's how we learn and grow. I gleefully maxed out my insane amount of kinetic energy and mirrored, then outran, my exhausted parents. All the while exploring anything and everything around me.
Then crashed into bed.
It was a time of wonder and awe. We were all so innocent, or so that was how I pleaded my case to my parents after my curiosity got me and my boy buddies into deep trouble. But wishful alibis aside, it was my fruitful imagination and my unspoiled enthusiasm, with the mysteries of my expanding world that turned me into a mini-explorer. But back to awe and wonder: I was practicing “beginner's mind.”
And I didn't realize it so, so young ago.
Beginner's mind is an idea shared with other faiths, and it refers to a practice of approaching situations with an open, eager, and unburdened attitude, free from preconceptions, just as a beginner would. It's exploring the world through childlike eyes.
Jesus understood childhood innocence and our spiritual formation, and famously told the disciples: "Unless you change your inner self - your old way of thinking, live changed lives and become like trusting, humble, and forgiving children, you won't find the kingdom of heaven."
For us all, exploration of the soul requires humility.
Author Richard Rohr puts it this way: "Beginner's mind is a non-grasping, patient and compassionate holding of truth, with the readiness for God and life to reveal even more of that truth - and the meaning of the truth as your life goes on. Beginner’s mind is always a humble mind, always knowing that it does not yet fully know". Or as the Apostle Paul humbly admits: "We see through the glass dimly".
And it takes courage.
Let's face it: Trying a haunted house for the first time pales in comparison to successfully navigating real love, hard suffering, and other essential matters of the heart. And if we are honest, both strike the fear of change into us. The older we get, the harder it is to make adjustments. Our open heart and mind tends to close down. What seemed like great fun when we were young, now is a struggle.
But really, change is always coming, coming, coming, like the light inside the tunnel. We don't get to decide whether it comes, but rather if it's negative - or works for our collective good.
And that's where freedom comes in.
When I was young, I used my adventuring to try and exercise my personal freedom. But too often it turned out to be an exercise in futility. I couldn't escape my personal pain (my escape clause). I was searching for deep answers to deep questions. And eventually I had to change my search from outside to in.
What I discovered was that freedom couldn't come from the searching, but from the waiting itself ... for the good answer. When I was ready, my Lord brought it to me. But I had to do the soul work first. Now, I haven't yet arrived at the station, but I do better to embrace the necessary change - even welcome it.
It all makes the outside journey more fun and fulfilling, as Colby and I get to visit other places and meet fellow soul travelers. It's always a mixture of hard work, embracing the unknown, and practicing generous assumptions.
I am back to the beginning, as it were - and it's so sweet!
Joshua 1:9
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
About the Author
Terry is a man in constant motion to explore new horizons. He has a thirst for new places and faces, and a deep love for the natural world - with a weakness for waterfalls and sunsets. All of this venturing out helps to both ground and inspire him, because it opens him up to people, with their vast, collective array of experiences, outlooks and responses.
He finds all of this fascinating and sees that it has encouraged the growth of something crucial in his Christian development: empathy and compassion toward his brothers and sisters on this planet.