Fear can be a great motivator and it can also be an obstacle. It can keep us from becoming our best selves or it can drive us to accomplish things we never thought we could. In this edition of By Your Life, we talk about dealing with fear by never giving up.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_06_21.mp3

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 21, 2020

Welcome to the one hundred and seventeenth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. (Cycle A) Recently, my daughter introduced me to the reality TV show “The Amazing Race.” Since they are in their 30^th season, you may be wondering what rock I’ve been living under since this is a new discovery for me, but I don’t watch much TV in general and I loathe reality TV, so it doesn’t surprise me that I missed this. If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know about The Amazing Race, it is an Emmy Award-winning reality series where 11 two-person teams trek around the world without the aid of telecommunication, navigation, or language-translation devices. At each destination, the teams must complete a series of mental and physical challenges to earn the clue to their next location. The last team to arrive at each destination’s “pit stop” may be eliminated and the first team to arrive at the final destination wins The Amazing Race and the $1 million prize.

Responding to life’s struggles

Since I was turned on to The Amazing Race, I’ve been binge-watching episodes from the 29 seasons I missed. I love the lessons in geography and culture and the fascinating view into human nature. Each episode is a microcosm of life’s struggles, successes, failures and suffering that bring out the best and worst in people. I wonder how I would respond to the frustration, anxiety, exhaustion, and disappointment. I hope I’d behave better than many of the contestants I’ve seen,  but when I’m honest with myself, I know it wouldn’t bring out the best-version-of-myself either.

In one season that I watched recently, the teams that finished #1 and #2 ran completely different races. Both teams were successful at mastering the challenges along the way, but one team was constantly bickering, blaming each other, and conspiring to sabotage their competition, while the other team was encouraging to each other and helping their competitors along the way. When one of these teams stole the other’s taxi, the other team responded with grace and vowed to keep competing with integrity, which they did. In the end, they came in first winning the $1 million.

Facing your fears

Okay, so what does The Amazing Race have to do with our readings from this Sunday? In our Gospel, Jesus said, “Fear no one.” (Mt 10:26), and again, “Do not be afraid.” (Mt 10:31) This is another aspect of The Amazing Race that is fascinating to watch—people facing and overcoming their greatest fears, whether it is fear of heights, the water, animals, tight spaces, you name it. In one episode, a team of twin brothers had to face their fear of the water when both detour challenges required the teams to complete an underwater task in the waters of the South Pacific. The brothers talked about giving up and taking a penalty but summoned up the courage to just do it. They decided that if they were going to lose, they were going to lose trying. They were inspired by their mother who never gave up on them and wanted to be an example to their kids to never give up. In the end, they were eliminated from the race, but went out knowing they had done the best they could and didn’t give into their fear.

At work, fear can be a great motivator and it can also be an obstacle. Fear of public speaking, fear of making cold calls, fear of making a mistake, or fear of getting fired, can keep us from becoming our best selves. On the other hand, financial fear, fear of being left out, or fear of failure, can drive us to accomplish things we never thought we could.

In our Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to put our fears in the right priority. He said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Mt. 10:28) He helps us to rightly prioritize our fears by keeping our focus on eternity.

Focus on the long-term

A focus on the long-term is a guiding principle for ChappellRoberts, a branding, advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. I interviewed Colleen Chappell, president and CEO, when I wrote The Value of Core Values. The firm has what they call the ChappellRoberts Manifesto. It defines who they are, what they represent, and their intentions about the future. It illustrates how they will work together and tells the market why they should be chosen over other agencies. All their team members and clients know what they can expect from the agency. Three of the eleven guiding principles are:

• We value our long-term reputation more than short-term gain.
• We act with honesty and integrity as individuals and as an agency.
• How we achieve results is as important as the results themselves.

Colleen told me about one of their competitors who chose to represent what turned out to be an unethical client. The competitor made a lot of money, but they also took a big hit to their reputation. That client could have been ChappellRobert’s if they didn’t focus on their core value—“We value our long-term reputation more than short-term gain.” They turned down the opportunity to represent the client because the risk to their reputation outweighed any financial reward.

Colleen cautioned that you have to be very careful about how you grow. She was confident that the agency could easily triple in size and be earning more money.  But she was more concerned about doing it the right way with her eyes keenly on the long-term and based on their core values. For ChappellRoberts, honoring their values has proven to be key to creating a sustainable business. If you compete with honor, and glorify the Lord by your actions, everything works itself out in the end.

Finding strength in struggles

In the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, we hear the prophet lamenting about how miserable it was to be God’s spokesman. He had been prophesying death and destruction to Israel and it didn’t make him popular. He writes, “All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. ‘Perhaps he can be tricked; then we can prevail and take our vengeance on him.’” (Jer 20:10) Just when you think he is ready to give up, he begins to sing praise to God. Even though those who say they are his friends are targeting his demise, it is not possible for him to abandon his purpose.

This is the same human drama that plays out in The Amazing Race. The teams are friendly at the start, but as the competition gets going and a team feels threatened by another, they conspire against each other. But time after time, even though they are the recipient of a U-turn which causes them to complete both detour challenges, teams dig deep and remember why they are there and find the strength to go on.

For Jeremiah, and for many Amazing Race competitors, they find their strength in the Lord. Jeremiah writes: “But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” (Jer 20:11) And this is how it often plays out in the race. The successful teams don’t let it get to them. They keep their focus on the goal and work through the obstacles.

Compete with honor

We can apply this strategy to our work lives. Instead of worrying about the competition, keep your eye on the goal. That is, focus on serving your customers with excellence, honesty, and integrity. If your competition behaves badly, it is on them. Don’t let other people’s bad behavior drag you down to their level. If your competition is successful, up your game. If you compete with honor, and glorify the Lord by your actions, everything works itself out in the end.

In these times of great fear, whether it be fear of the virus, the economy, or civil unrest, we need to remember that God doesn’t abandon us, but when we are afraid, we think he has. Jesus reminds us that his Father cares for his creatures. He said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So, do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt 10:29-31) We are reminded that in the midst of the world’s difficulties, you can find safety and power when grounded in Christ Jesus.

The best and worst of times

In his homily about this Sunday’s readings, Bishop Barron summarized the prophet Jeremiah’s lamentation saying, “Being a spokesman for God is miserable and wonderful. It is the worst possible thing, and your heart would burst if you didn’t do it. It is ‘terror on every side’ and the source of all sweetness.” The Amazing Race experience is a similar combination of the best and worst of things. And so is our life. We are not promised an absence of suffering, but we are promised joy in our suffering. We are not promised an elimination of trials, but strength in our hardships. We are not promised a life without misery, but hope in our distress, if we center our lives on Christ.

So, as we go forth this week, let’s pray for God’s help.

Oh Lord, we are anxious about many things. We’re afraid of failure. We’re afraid of success. Fear of criticism overwhelms us. We are afraid of being alone. We’re afraid of becoming victims of crime and afraid of succumbing to this virus. When fear overtakes us, bring our thoughts back to you, God. Be the center of our lives, our rock, our fortress, and our salvation. Grow our faith daily Lord. May the Holy Spirit guide us as he gives us strength and courage. Be with us as we face these fears, guide us that we may go out in confidence, knowing that you are at our side.

May God bless you abundantly this week and may you glorify the Lord by your life.

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