Death of a Small Life

We know the fairy tales.  We are familiar with the Reluctant Hero on a Quest scenario.  The poor, unassuming farm boys/servant girls/orphans lead small lives in small worlds.  Suddenly, they are presented with a problem/object/invitation.  Hesitantly, they accept the challenge.  They fail their first trials.  They discover mentors.  Enemies mount offensive tactics.  The challenges grow more daunting and the chances of success grow slimmer.  Yet by the end of the story they succeed in their task and become who we knew they were destined to be.

What happens to convince them first, to step out of their smaller story into a larger one, and second, to accept the truth about who they really are?

The first answer is that something in them decides against the status quo.  The second answer is that they die to themselves.

This process of dying to themselves begins when they accept that they have a purpose in a story larger than what they’ve known.  It ends when they take the risks and make the sacrifices for the good of the others.  It is the sacrifice that wins the heart of the special someone, defeats the enemy, saves the day.

It’s no different for us.

Finding our lives by losing them means sacrificing the small to get the large, the mediocre for the excellent, the safe for the stunning. 

Is it really a sacrifice to give up small, mediocre, and safe to gain large, excellent, and stunning?

I don’t know who it was who said, “the greater the risk, the greater the reward” but I would bet they were not living the mediocre thing. 

Was Peter’s life mediocre?  Was Paul’s safe?  Were David’s and Moses’ lives small?

Was Jesus’ life any of those?

Don’t let yours be.  Let the small go.  Grasp the large.  Decide for the adventure.  Accept who you really are.  

Find your life by losing it.

It. Is. Worth. It.