Catalyst Monthly
I just wrote an article for Catalyst Monthly.
The entire article will be an an upcoming issue . You can subscribe here.
Here's an excerpt:
Go Jump Off a Cliff
A few years ago, I was part of a mission team that helped build a Teen Challenge Center in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. After a week of hard work, our family stuck around for a few days to enjoy the island. When we checked into our hotel I happened to pick up a tourist brochure about cliff jumping and the second I saw it I knew I needed to do it. But a few lazy days later, we were on an airplane headed back to Washington, DC and I remember having this thought at about thirty-thousand feet: I might never get back here. I felt like I had forfeited a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I still regret it. In fact, one of my life goals is to go back and not just jump off a cliff. I want to do a cliff baptism. Talk about baptism by immersion!
So I missed an opportunity to jump off a cliff. So what? In the grand scheme of things, that regret is rather benign. But that experience taught me a valuable lesson: at the end of our lives, we'll regret opportunities missed a lot more than mistakes made.
That conviction is backed up by the research of two Cornell sociologists, Tom Gilovich and Vicki Medvec. According to their study, time is a key factor in what we regret. Over the short-term, we tend to regret our actions. But over the long-haul, we tend to regret inactions. Their study found that over the course of an average week, action regrets outnumber inaction regrets 53% to 47%. But when people look at their lives as a whole, inaction regrets outnumber action regrets 84% to 16%.
In theological terms, action regrets are sins of commission. And they certainly cause a twinge of guilt. But it is the inaction regrets or sins of omission that haunt us the rest of our lives. We are left to wonder: what if?
The entire article will be an an upcoming issue . You can subscribe here.
Here's an excerpt:
Go Jump Off a Cliff
A few years ago, I was part of a mission team that helped build a Teen Challenge Center in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. After a week of hard work, our family stuck around for a few days to enjoy the island. When we checked into our hotel I happened to pick up a tourist brochure about cliff jumping and the second I saw it I knew I needed to do it. But a few lazy days later, we were on an airplane headed back to Washington, DC and I remember having this thought at about thirty-thousand feet: I might never get back here. I felt like I had forfeited a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I still regret it. In fact, one of my life goals is to go back and not just jump off a cliff. I want to do a cliff baptism. Talk about baptism by immersion!
So I missed an opportunity to jump off a cliff. So what? In the grand scheme of things, that regret is rather benign. But that experience taught me a valuable lesson: at the end of our lives, we'll regret opportunities missed a lot more than mistakes made.
That conviction is backed up by the research of two Cornell sociologists, Tom Gilovich and Vicki Medvec. According to their study, time is a key factor in what we regret. Over the short-term, we tend to regret our actions. But over the long-haul, we tend to regret inactions. Their study found that over the course of an average week, action regrets outnumber inaction regrets 53% to 47%. But when people look at their lives as a whole, inaction regrets outnumber action regrets 84% to 16%.
In theological terms, action regrets are sins of commission. And they certainly cause a twinge of guilt. But it is the inaction regrets or sins of omission that haunt us the rest of our lives. We are left to wonder: what if?
2 Comments:
This entry really hit a nerve with me. I am convicted by the notion of sins of omission. There are so many things I have felt called to do that I have not done because of fear. I am trapped within a net of fear and regret. I am totally functional, but I know I am only operating at minimum capacity.
How does one fight the fear and find the clarity to follow a new path in ones life?
Geneveive,
That is a tough question to answer :) I wish my book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, was already out because one of the subplots is how we overcome fear and "chase lions." I think a 200 page book would get you closer to the answer :)
But my short answer is this. Take one step of faith at a time. Seize one opportunity at a time. Take up your cross one day at a time. Face your fears one day at a time.
I honestly think that most of us are just one act of courage away from most of our dreams. We have to take that step and then believe in it so much that no matter how tough it gets we just keep chasing the lion.
If it's any encouragement, my dream of writing took more than a decade to materialize. Hang in there and trust God's timing!
My two cents,
PM
Post a Comment
<< Home