Brave Enough To Be Bliss

my week and my life since then. So just in case any of you have a worry today, I’d like to pass out these cards and encourage you to read it and maybe even memorize it in hopes that it can provide you the same sense of peace and calm that it does for me. Now, would you please pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for bringing us here together today and reminding us that we need not worry if only we trust in you. It is such a joy to work alongside others who know you and are willing to share so much of themselves with others. Help us all to bring our worries, however large or small, to you and allow you to be in control of our lives. As always, thank you for your patience, your love, and your forgiveness. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. I remember my hands shaking and perhaps my voice quivering a couple times as I shared this devotional message at the Shawnee Mission Medical Center Board of Trustees meeting on December 5, 2005. This was the first time I could ever recall sharing any details of the night I wanted to take my own life. Following the prayer, I remember the Vice President of Mission getting up and giving me a hug while everyone in the room clapped. Devotionals weren't things that received applause. Clergy usually gave the devotional, but of course I couldn’t compare to their expertise, so on th is night, I had shared all that I knew how to share. I guess it was one of those vulnerable risks we take that actually turns out well. I was vague in order to not make it too uncomfortable for anyone, including myself, but I guess they got the drift of what I was saying. It was one of the most real "me" moments I had ever experienced. I really had to give it some thought to figure out what in the world would have moved me to share something so personal. Primarily I believe the courage stemmed from the fact the CEO believed in my ability to deliver an impactful message, or he wouldn’t have asked me to do it at such an important meeting. Knowing my delivery would ultimately reflect on him, I had to dig deep to ensure it was good enough for this intimidating audience. I also think there were times I felt like the hospital’s mission wasn't real enough for some people, that they said things but then didn't live them out in their positions, so I wanted to bring something real and honest and open to the devotional process. Not a pastor preaching to us, but one of us sharing something real that maybe could make everyone more compassionate to the employees and each other. And since the only writing I can do is from my heart, these devotionals gave me an opportunity to speak out loud the written words of my heart. “All of us have ‘comfort zones,’ the areas in which we are comfortable. These comfort zones apply to the way we dress, the emotions we can comfortably express, the things which we will try, the depths to which we reveal ourselves, our openness to change, and so forth. As long as we stay within these comfort zones, we just keep repeating what we have always done. We don’t change. We don’t grow. Every day is pretty much like the day before, and every tomorrow is pretty much like today. Our days are all “carbon copies” of one another. We like our comfort zones, even though they definitely shrink the world in which we live. We know our way around inside our comfort zones. We know how to cope with the things we encounter in our familiar comfort zones. We feel ‘safe’ there. “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson I will be sharing a reading from the book, Seasons of the Heart, written by John Powell, S.J.

If you promise me that you are going to stay within your comfort zone, I will be able to tell you what you will be like at the end of your life. You’ll be just what you are now, only more so.

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