Stop Living in a Bubble

We bought this special bubble formula from the bazaar and had loads of fun when we got home. The kids couldn't wait to pop the bubbles.  The bigger they were, the more fun it would be to burst them. I imagined that if the formula were stronger, I could make a bubble big enough to "live in it."

At times, we hear the expression, "living in a bubble."  It means isolating yourself from the world, to protect yourself from possible dangers. There was even a movie in 2001, Bubble Boy, that literally depicted this idiom. Bubble boy was under the impression that he had to live in the bubble because he might get infected by the outside world.  But as it turned out, it was safe. It was because of the overly protective mother's idea that led to this predicament.

What is that risk that you should take to make life better?  Have you risked anything for God? Faith requires risk. St. Paul said in Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."  Often when we hope for something, but before taking action, we wish to see it first before we believe it. Faith is evidence of things not seen.

God does not want us to live in a bubble. He wants us to go and live an exciting life. Not to play it too safe, but venture with the blessings God has given us. In the parable of the talents, Jesus pointed out how the master reprimanded the person who hid the one talent given to him. ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Matthew 25: 26-29)

Besides, the bubble decieves you to thinking that it will protect you. No bubble is infinitely stable. Sooner than expected, it will burst. What are the bubbles that we live in? What are we overprotecting ourselves from?

1. Overprotecting ourselves from the possibility of failure.

Still, the best way to learn is to actually fail at something.  I'm not talking about failing because of laziness or a lack of diligence, but failing despite giving our all.  Tom Peters would refer this as excellent failures.  Life is full of challenges and the fear of failure is something that traps us in a bubble. This makes us afraid of making bold decisions.  The fear of failure can paralyze our lives.

2. Overprotection from getting hurt

When somebody hurts us, specially a loved one, we tend to deflect from the possibility of getting hurt again. This makes our hearts closed to loving again. A betrayal is especially traumatic. We grieve over this hurt.  Often we make this hurt like a bubble to protect us from future hurts. I'd like to quoute a cartoon movie that I viewed with my kids, Tale of Desperaux. It says in the movie, "There is something greater than grief...forgiveness."  Once we forgive others, and especially ourselves, we can move forward in life and learn to love again. Yes, there is a possibility of getting hurt again, but one cannot experience the fullness of love unless the heart is open and vulnerable.  A good image of this is are the hearts of Jesus and Mary, crowned with thorns and pierced by a sword.

3.  Overprotecting the people, things, and the work we love

I love my kids and I'll die if I have to in order to protect them. But one day, when they are all grown up and capable to make decisions on their own, It'll be the time wherein I have to trust them in making the right choices and trust God that they be led to the right path.  We have to let go and let God. It is in empowering others that dignity is raised.  We cannot do everything for the people we love, especially when they have to really do it themselves like choosing the right course in college or answering to a vocation. 
Sometimes in work, because of our obsession for perfection, we hog all the work and end up tired while leaving others disempowered.
When we grow an attachment to things we love, like money or possessions, we can't bear to lose them.  We'll do anything to keep it, even by hook or by crook.  We cannot overprotect to the point of compromising our integrity and our faith.

Let us live freely! With full trust in the Lord, Peter, James and John left their nets and followed Jesus.  They let go of the very thing they knew and loved to do which is to be fishermen. Many of the apostles were persecuted, even martyred for the sake of Christ.  They even witnessed Jesus being nailed to the cross, and thought that all they did failed, until the Holy Spirit revived and empowered them to preach to the ends of the earth.

Let us go through life, full of faith in the Lord, willing to risk what we hold dear for the sake of His Name. Let us open our hearts, vulnerable to hurt, but entered with the grace of God to love others beyond our capacity.