Courageous Possibility

My morning routine is consistent and mundane.

Not at all courageous but full of possibility.

And I absolutely love it.

I've created a relatively simplified system of daily practices

that take the thinking and decision making out of my mornings.

These intentional practices keep me active and on autopilot

allowing my mind freedom to consume and create.

And perhaps with a tiny bit of courage,

maybe discover a bit of possibility.

Two of my daily practices are reading and journaling.

What I read often influences what I write.

And sometimes what I read rubs against other things I have read.

This is when it gets a little exciting, because

between these worlds is where adjacent possibility lives.

Adjacent Possibility is an idea developed by Stuart Kauffman

and made popular by Steven Johnson.

This morning,

possibility waited patiently for me to finish reading.

Then it revealed itself to me when I started journaling.

I am currently reading Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday and this morning, I took note of chapter, "make it a habit." The idea was that if we regularly practice small courageous acts, we are more likely to perform important courageous acts when the stakes are higher. We make courage a habit by practicing it.

This clicked for me because my "one word" is mercy. Mercy (along with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness) for self and for others has been a daily focus of mine for the past several weeks. To be merciful, we must practice being merciful. The same is true to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving. All of these qualities require regular practice. In doing so, I've found many opportunities to practice mercy in times that matter greatly to myself and to others.

In addition to this glimmer of possibility, I was given another connection in my daily scripture reading. The first was in Luke 2 when the angel said, "do not be afraid." I followed that passage with passage from 1 John 4 that states, "there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..." (thank you for sharing that gem with me, Matt Stark). What stands between possibility and action is fear. These two passages were timed well with this reading from Holiday and my reminder of adjacent possibility. But it doesn't end there.

I'm also re-reading Rob Bell's, Everything is Spiritual and Richard Rohr's Yes, And. The passage from Bell was discussing the Spirit of Christ that is shared by all humanity past and present. The great body of Christ. I followed this with Rohr's discussion of "the communion of saints" where he talks of us all being part of the "Great Whole" of humanity and all of us being part of this body of Christ. It seems clear that these two men are onto something. Something that created a little possibility for me as well.

The journey of life and our spiritual journeys are filled with mystery. There are a lot of questions to ask, interpretations to make, and wrestling to do. And in all of this, we need to have some courage. We need to be not afraid. To stretch and grow and go deeply takes practice.

It takes habit. It takes trust and openness and connection. It takes mercy and kindness and compassion and forgiveness for ourselves and for each other as we venture on this journey that all humanity enters. This great whole, this great flow, this great body of humanity. Together, past and present. And we find possibility when we have the courage to trust in faith, the courage to be open in hope, and the courage to be connected in love.