Articles

Resurrection of Courageous Faith

The number of things to be thankful for in life is vast and uncountable. Life has so very much to offer. At the same time there is no shortage of work in the world to decrease suffering and bring joy to the day. Need is everywhere calling out our creativity and our ability to be so much more than we were yesterday. There are opportunities everywhere to give, to love and to prove to yourself that you are alive and well and that you matter.

So why are we so afraid? I looked at all those red states on election night and was struck silent by a sudden knowing. “We are in fear.” We are the most powerful nation on earth, or so I am told, and we are standing in fear. This whole country of red states and blue states is awash in a fear that sounds reasonable, logical, and righteous.

This in not the obvious gibbering-in-the-corner or run-screaming-from-the-room fear. This is the fear of the highly functional. This is the fear that sounds rational and feels good.

Fear is an illusion that colludes with your smallest possible self to keep things exactly as they are. Fear does not ask you to talk to strangers or engage with an unfamiliar thought. Fear does not ask you to be wise or seek divine counsel. Fear is easy.

Fear can never and will never bring you a new solution to an old problem. Fixating on what is not working is never the path to creating ways for things to work. Refusing to move one step out of your comfort zone until you know everything about what might happen assures you that nothing new will happen. Refusing to do what is needed because it won't be perfect assures you that you will not find what has purpose and passion. Staying addicted to the drama and the intensity of war, terrorists, contemporary battles over health insurance or work group power, reality TV, and “Oh my goodness, I'll never find love” keeps you from exactly that, love and community.

Basic shamanic skills offer a way out of fear. Basic shamanic skills are simply the skills of being a spiritual grown up. (See the article in Newsletter V6.N2 on the website) They are not special skills for special people. They are equally available to Everyman and Everywoman. They teach us that we are not alone, there are new answers to old problems, and we can choose to step out of fear.

Fundamental to shamanism is each individual's personal relationship with his/her helping spirits. This relationship reveals to us the true nature of our existence. We are connected to all things. We are not alone because we cannot be alone. We cannot take the stand that we are alone in the world and thus have the right to be afraid and fight for our little pieces of whatever. Instead we must ask ourselves, how does a person who is connected to every person and every thought and every action choose to act?

This personal relationship with the helping spirits is most often used to answer questions. We can take anything to the spirits. We can take the most practical and mundane question and get an action plan. We can take the most esoteric questions and get answers that show us the way. The beauty of the solutions the helping spirits offer us is that they do not create further problems in the way our political solutions do. Not only can we get answers to any question, but we get answers that will leave the world a better place for our grandchildren's children.

Shamanism as a path of personal development offers a process for becoming a person “in right relationship with fear.” In right relationship with fear we allow it to warn us of danger, but we do not become afraid. We assess the danger and choose. In other words, we learn to recognize that we have slipped into fear and acknowledge it as an altered state through which we cannot see reality clearly. We know we must step out of fear to see what's really going on. Shamanism teaches numerous skills for stepping out of fear, adjusting our vision to see reality clearly, and taking appropriate action.

We have no excuse to stand in fear. The skills to live with courageous faith have been with us since our ancestors' time. These skills sailed here with them whether they came indentured, in chains, or in staterooms. These skills were here alive and well in the people of North America our ancestors encountered. These skills allowed our forefathers to open their minds and model our nation after a foreign idea, the Confederacy of Nations practiced by nations of indigenous peoples. These skills gave our ancestors the strength to claim self-rule, and eventually voter rights, and civil rights.

The ancestors had the courage to step out of fear. To live in a future of new solutions we too must have that courage. It is up to each one of us to step fearlessly into our lives so that the present moment does not stand in fear. 2005 could be the year of courageous faith if we choose it.