Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
The Next Courageous Step

The Next Courageous Step

Last updated on: March 18, 2023 at 7:42 am by Karl J. Forehand

The Next Courageous Step 2023-03-18T07:42:31-06:00 Karl J. Forehand

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

‏

I remember when I played in my first high school football game. It was so terrifying, then exhilarating, then addictive. Other than girls, it was all I cared about for several years.

I remember my first job in Dallas / Ft. Worth. I felt small among the buildings and all the people. Work quickly became an addiction, where I struggled and succeeded.

I remember becoming a father and being totally paralyzed by fear. We didn’t have a choice, we had to do whatever was necessary to raise our children. And we did, but it was one challenging step after another.

I remember my first sermon. It was probably only about 10 minutes long and I could hardly breathe. But I got through it, I became better, and eventually I was addicted to it.

I remember leaving the pulpit as I began asking questions. No one within organized religion wanted to spend much time on the questions, so I had to venture outside the walls, read different books, and talk to other people to find the answers. It was another frightening step that I eventually learned how to enjoy.

Remember my dark night when I had the courage to go inside and began to discover the darkness that was there. I booked some time in a hermitage and met my inner child. This may have been the bravest and most productive thing I have ever done. I was finally healing.

I remember writing my first serious book. I tried to be vulnerable and explore what was unfolding before me. It wasn’t easy, but as I wrote, things became clearer. When I was able to share these stories with others, and they shared their stories with me, we all benefited from it.

I remember having my stroke. My whole left side was paralyzed. With the help of others, I took my first step once again and learned to dress myself, fix my own meals, and walk further. It has been one of the most challenging events in my life for many different reasons. And it continues.

I remember when new friends abandoned, ignored and/or betrayed me in various ways. In most cases, they were probably just pursuing their own goals, but it all seemed unnecessary and I couldn’t quite make sense of all of it all.

I remember when I started to understand acceptance. I realized it didn’t matter if I was a part of the tribe that I wanted or whether people approved of what I was doing. What mattered was that I was authentic and accepted the present for what it is.

I remember recently when I understood that I am already successful, that the universe is on my side, and spirit is with me. My only responsibility is to look forward and take my next courageous step.

Just like my very first step, none of them are easy and all of them take courage. All of our journeys look slightly different, but the road map is similar. It whispers to us:

“You can do it. Just take the next step.”

Be where you are,
Be who you are,
Be at peace!

Karl Forehand

Progressive Christian

Previous Post

March 12, 2023

Crossing the Threshhold

Next Post

March 20, 2023 Trust Yourself

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Addiction Advent adventure Alpha Male Animals Answers Attachment Attitude authenticity Authenticty Authentiicity Awareness being Bible Black Community BLM body awarenss book Books Bravery Bullying Bypassing Certainty Certianty Chamge change children Christianity Christmas Church Comfort community Compaasion Compassion Complementarian Complementarianism Conditioning Consciousness Contemplation Control Conversation Converstations Covid-19 Creation Darkness Death Debate deconstruction demons depression desert Devil Disciples discussion Divine dreams Easter Eclipse Empathy Essence evolution evolve faith fatherhood Fear fiction Flood Focus Focusing Focussing Future Genesis Goals God Gratitude grief growth Guns Hate healing Health Heart Hell Holiday Hypnosis ignorance Improvement infallible Inner Child Integrity Intuition Jesus Jezebel Journey King LGBTQ+ Love MAGA Marriage meditation Men Mercy Message metaphysical Mindfulness Misogyny Mourning Music Mystic mystical Narcissism Nationalism Nature New Year Novel Nutrition Organization other Pain Pandemic parenting Pastors Patriarchy Patriotism Personal Growth Plan Poet poets Police politics Power practice praise Prayer presence pro-life Problem Solving Progress prolife Prophet prophets Purity Culture Purpose Queer Questions Racism Rape Rapture reconstruction Recovery Religion Resolutions Restoration Resurrection Retribution Reviews Root Cause Sanctuary Satan SBC Scripture Seeking Self-Care Self-esteem Seminary Sex Shadow shame social justice social media solitude Spirits Spirituality stillness Story Survivor Thanksgiving Theologians Theology Tradition Trauma travel Trump Uncategorized Unchurching Universe Violence Vision Voice Volunteer Vulnerability War Women Word worship Writing

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who provided bread and Goliath's sword to David at Nob?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ahimelech the priest Abner Abiathar Jonathan

Books by This Author Books by The Desert Sanctuary

See All Titles »