All of us have the choice on a daily basis if we are going to live out of a place of love or fear.  If the phrase from the Scriptures speak the truth that perfect love casts out fear, then the opposite can be said as well: perfect fear casts out all love.  There is a level of honesty that we need to bring with us when considering whether or not we allow love or fear to be the ‘casting out’ element.

Each element carries with it a unique nature and purpose that will serve as a guide through your day to day outlook on life.  If love is able to be your guiding light, you will tend to live with a hope that tomorrow will indeed be better than today.  If fear is able to be your guide, then you will live under the shadow that around any given corner will be the next stumbling block that will knock you to the ground.

Each day carries with it the opportunity to put in all on the line.  Each day presents us with the choice to put our best foot forward… or stay locked into a place of perceived security and protection.  The how and why of which we decide whether or not to move is largely impacted by love or fear.

In this world, everyone has mountains to climb… valleys to walk through… landscapes to examine.  Love or fear are the lenses that we see the challenges and opportunities set out before us.  Each of us only need to decide which lens to wear.

Easier said than done?

Before you can answer that question, you must first ask yourself how willing to be honest in the journey you are going to be.  Nobody’s life is perfect… but you can still live a perfect life.

As we have considered earlier, one constant that perpetually makes its way into the human experience is shame.  At the most intricate levels and intersections of where you perceive that your life’s meaning, you will need to honestly deal with your shame.

In the face of shame… will you choose love?

In the face of shame… will you choose fear?

In the coming pages, we will unpack the reasons that intimacy with self, others, and the world can seem to elude us because of the shame that we experience, and how to choose love rather than fear.  And to do so, we must be honest.

This is not about putting on the line only what we want to see in ourselves… but being willing to see ourselves for who we truly are.

This is not about putting on the line only what we want others to see in us… but being willing to see ourselves and others for who they truly are.

This is not about putting on the line only what we want to see in the world… but being willing to see the world for what it truly is.

Intimacy… love… honesty… fear… and shame are key ingredients to our your everyday existence that need to be considered if you desire to live a life of simplicity… or if you will live a life on consumption.