I Dare You

The other day, I was watching TV and saw a commercial that used the tag line “I dare you.” It reminded me of the game “Truth or Dare” that is popular/everyone thinks is so cool in grade school. Thinking back, I can’t help but laugh at the outrageous tasks people came up with as “dares.” I was never a fan of the dares myself, almost always choosing the truth option. As I was contemplating all of this after seeing the commercial, it made me think about the concept of a dare a little more. What really is a dare? It is much more than a task designed by children to embarrass their friends, and it doesn’t have to be ridiculous or silly.  

A dare is a challenge. To dare means to venture, to have the boldness to try, to face something courageously. Now that I’m older, I see that I encounter dares every day. These dares do not come from my peers this time, but from God. We live in a world that is full of sadness and hurt, anger and arrogance, selfishness and greed. People forget to love, to take time out for the little things such as watching the sunset or saying “thank you.” They forget what is truly important in life, and they do things to help themselves instead of others. It can be difficult to rise above all of that, but God dares us to do it anyway. He challenges us to be loving and giving of ourselves, to smile at strangers, to have faith and seek out the good in life. He pushes us to extend a helping hand even when it’s not convenient for us, to search for His beauty in an imperfect world, to bring happiness to those around us. He dares us to boldly and courageously live out His Gospel every day of our lives. It’s not going to be easy all the time, for it is, after all, a challenge, but we have many things to help us along the way. We have scriptures, the Mass, each other. And best of all, we have God. He is with us every step of the way. When we feel like we are not up to His challenges, He supports us and gives us encouragement to keep doing our best. Even when we fail, He is there to help us get back on our feet and try again.  

There’s a quote by Mother Teresa that sums all of my thoughts up rather nicely: 

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. 

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 

If you are honest and sincere, people may cheat you. Be honest and sincere anyway. 

What you spend years building could be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. 

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

So, I'll leave you with some questions to ponder. What is God daring you personally to do? What is He asking you to add to the world? How will you work to meet His challenges? 

God bless,
Kathe