“Pushing the Zone” Living Beyond One’s Comfort Zone

Biblical Texts: 
Romans 12:10 : “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” NRSV
Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” NRSV

The texts assigned for this day are beautiful statements that connote a utopia that does not exist in the real world; an ideal for which to strive, but one that is often extremely difficult to achieve. To” love one another” or to “live peaceably with all” requires a reciprocation of love, honor and respect. Our natural survival instincts of “fight or flight” initially force us to view new people or new situations unfamiliar to us with varying degrees of fear and suspicion. It takes courage and practice to learn to subdue those fears, to move forward into the unknown, to meet a group of strangers, to move to a new area, to switch jobs; and in doing so we are encountering others who are feeling the same instinctual fears and suspicions about us. For some, crossing the street to welcome a new neighbor is difficult. For others it may be talking to a homeless person or traveling in a strange and crowded city. “So far as it depends on [us]” and having been given the Gift of the Spirit, we are enabled to move beyond instinct and comfort zones. With God’s empowerment we are encouraged to suppress our instincts and do what is right, not what is easy; to create a space where we can “live peacefully with all” even if it means putting down our defenses and meeting the other halfway. 

Our faith teaches us that we are all created in the image and with the likeness of God. Remembering that can help us to see others as God sees them, to show them the honor and love they deserve as much as we deserve ourselves.

Janet L.L