Flow of Gratefulness (for That Which Seems to Bring Fear

I am grateful for debt, for the illusion of money’s importance, for the idea of lack.

Grateful for the usurper who pulls my gaze from Spirit, for the feeling of being tricked, for not quite understanding everything.

Grateful for other people—for the mirrors they hold to me when I see my own failures most clearly, for the muddy, unclear emotions that surface just when I want them gone.

Grateful for feeling stuck, unsure, caught in a pit of destruction. Grateful for the fear of death. The fear of pain.

I’m grateful for fear—for the role it seems to play in a life truly lived. The fear that makes me pause, that teaches me to ask for help. The fear that brings me to the cross in search of redemption, resurrection—that gives me the chance to begin again. The fire that clears the forest.

Grateful for the parts of my little world that trigger fear. For fear that humbles me, that sizes me rightly, that lays out the challenges before me and forces me to grow beyond them—to reach higher, to seek a wider view.

I’m grateful for the fear of staying the same. For resistance that builds resilience. For enemies to push against, obstacles to wrestle with, debts that remind me of my limits. For the feeling that it's all too big to overcome alone.

If I thank God for security and abundance, I must also thank God for scarcity and instability. If I’m grateful for health, I’m grateful for illness.

Not because I try to see the bright side—No!But because there is soul in all of it—in joy and in pain, in confidence and insecurity, in light and in darkness.

When I pick up the stick of fortune, I also hold the stick of loss .It is only at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the world splits into duality. But in truth, all of the garden is One.

There is a deeper peace when I realize: everything is perfect as it is. Even the deceiver.

And so, I do the unexpected. I stand naked in front of fear and say:

“I love you. Come on this journey with me. Let’s step away from this one tree and explore the whole, vast, limitless rest of the garden.

Turn around—there it is.

Turn around—here is paradise.

Here is Eden.”