Daring to be Alive

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There has been so much pain and heaviness this month. I have wanted to come close and write but have sort of been at a loss for words.

The attack on Israel on October 7 was horrific to watch. Hostages are still being held and away from their loved ones.

I could write a whole post about the things made evident in the past few weeks:

1) How language is manipulated and misused to control ideology;

2) How when you love something or someone, you strive to protect it;

3) How dehumanizing and othering people is still easy, and we aren’t too far from the 1940s (some people didn’t pay attention in history class, and it shows);

4) How U.S. citizens should be wary to travel because it is clear that if something happens, no one is coming to save you;

5) How weak (or nonexistent) leadership has consequences;

6) How words have consequences (see withdrawn job offers from openly antisemitic students);

7) How antisemitism is rampant and seen as something to aspire to (extra disturbing);

8) How people care more about feelings than fact;

9) How a chunk of America’s youth sympathizes with a terror group; and

10) How unprepared we are for what we have yet to experience (it will require a different level of resilience from us).

I could go into depth on each of these points, but I won’t. There is no lack of commentary and fear-mongering from all sides, including sometimes the church. We can see reality for what it is. All it takes are open eyes and honesty.

I read this week in Erwin McManus’ book Mind Shift about the show The Walking Dead. The idea of people surviving a zombie type invasion is amusing and fantastical and yet the metaphor is not lost on me. At the end, the people/survivors say, “We are the ones who live!”

I am drained by reality. I think we all are. And in the West, we have the privilege to step away and look away, if we so desire, even if the person next to us has made clear they would kill us given the opportunity.

The truth is that life’s harshness and reality will touch us all. In this country, I do feel like we think we are owed more and entitled to different, yet we fail to realize that all we have had that has been good and unique from this country has been a gift, not an entitlement. It is something that requires responsibility to hold onto. Work. Values. Virtue.

It is easy to lose one’s marbles and plunge into despair. The world has shown us a variety of ways to do it.

One of the most courageous things a person can do is live. Truly live. To live with joy, courage, hope and integrity. Contrary to popular belief, that is not easy, and it is not weak.

I was reminded of this while watching a tribute to Len Goodman. (RIP, Len). It was a moving ballroom dance. All I could think while watching was how much beauty was in every movement and extension. So much intentionality and grace. So much emotion in every face. What if we lived like that? What if we embraced beauty, emotion, intentionality and grace?

What if we lived in a way that reminded the world what it is like to be alive? To love? To create and cherish beauty? We aren’t wired for hate. It destroys us. We were made for truth.

What if we kept in mind how fleeting all this is? And as Scripture says, how all of this is but a drop and fleeting moment in the ocean of eternity?

What if instead of relying on other voices for security or instruction, we made it our passion to seek for ourselves and filter out the noise?

What if we lived? What if we trusted the only One who can be trusted? What if we decided to be the most courageous ones of all? To trust when it is all falling apart? To show beauty when despair and hate rules?

What if we decided that being truly human and our souls surviving this world’s atrocities was a sacred mission?