Rhonda Mawhood Lee had a fear of singing in public and in overcoming her phobia she learned “to trust God’s power to heal a small yet deeply felt past hurt, {and] understood anew our Christian proclamation that strength is found in vulnerability.”
Read her story at Duke’s Faith and Leadership blog:
I chanted. The people chanted back. And God was worshipped. The 11 a.m. Eucharist was easier than the 8 a.m., and I’ve become even more relaxed in the Sundays since.
This Lenten discipline and Easter celebration taught me much more than self-hypnosis skills. As I learned to trust God’s power to heal a small yet deeply felt past hurt, I understood anew our Christian proclamation that strength is found in vulnerability. As an ordained leader, I embodied that truth in a new way, allowing my parishioners to witness me doing something that many knew had terrified me.
Now, I wonder: Where else in my ministry might I risk being more vulnerable? Where might I admit that my skill isn’t sufficient for the challenge at hand, that no matter how hard I try, I can’t find a solution on my own?
Where have I been seeking a panacea — beta blockers for the church — that will simply mask symptoms rather than address the root causes of whatever’s making me or my congregation uncomfortable or frightened? What new joys might be in store for congregations and lay and ordained leaders if we will admit what most terrifies us and ask God to work through it for God’s own healing purposes?