{"id":67,"date":"2012-09-10T19:23:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T19:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me\/"},"modified":"2012-09-10T19:23:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T19:23:00","slug":"what-scares-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html","title":{"rendered":"What Scares Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy<\/a>.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic fashion and one dream where he was sure he was going to die, then says:<\/p>\n

All things have their place, and there is certainly a place for the warm and fuzzy in Paganism. But I think it\u2019s also necessary to remember that there are parts of nature, and aspects of the Kindred we worship, that can be violently cold, fiercely wild, and terribly awe inspiring.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good religion is dangerous religion<\/a> \u2013 it challenges us to confront our preconceived notions and live up to our values. This is true whether you\u2019re a Pagan or a Christian or a Buddhist<\/a>. Nature is good, even though it can be \u201ccold, wild and awe inspiring<\/a>.\u201d This is true whether you\u2019re a monotheist or a pantheist or a humanist. <\/p>\n

But for those of us who consider ourselves polytheists \u2013 and I\u2019ll include both the hard and soft varieties, though I think it\u2019s even more important for we who experience the gods as distinct individuals \u2013 this call to move beyond the warm and fuzzy should come with a sense of urgency and priority.<\/p>\n

What are your goddesses and gods telling you right now? What do your ancestors want you to do? What do the spirits of the land need from you? <\/p>\n

What is your calling? Is it challenging you? Is it scaring you?<\/p>\n

If your gods aren\u2019t scaring you at least occasionally, I\u2019d suggest maybe you aren\u2019t paying attention.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t intend to bash those whose primary interests are love and light and personal growth. We all need love and light and personal growth. But if we\u2019re spiritual adults, we\u2019re past the kind of kindergarten growth where a smiling mother goddess holds our hand and leads us to the sweet smelling flowers.<\/p>\n

The god who is both hunter and hunted has passionate needs. A battle goddess has needs of life and death importance. The gods and goddesses of smithcraft labor long and hard to create what is needed. <\/p>\n

What do they need from you? What have they asked of you? How have you responded? Have<\/i> you responded?<\/p>\n

Most of what I write here is ultimately personal, and so is this. I\u2019ve reached a goal that is both an achievement and a calling to greater service. Some of you know what that is \u2013 the rest will find out early next week. All achievements should be celebrated and I intend to celebrate this, but there\u2019s a tendency to pause and rest\u2026 sometimes a little longer than you should\u2026 than I should.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m being called to some deeper work. So are many others, as the comments to The Call of the Morrigan<\/a> illustrate. <\/p>\n

That call scares me. The thought of all the work scares me. The thought of the opposition I\u2019ll encounter scares me. The thought of the uncertain path and indefinite timetable scares me.<\/p>\n

But you know what scares me more than any of that? The thought of what I\u2019ll miss out on if I say no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
That\u2019s me on the left, rappelling for the first time in 1987.\u00a0 Those first two steps backing off the cliff were terrifying.\u00a0 The rest were exhilarating.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic fashion and one dream where he was sure he was going to die, then says: All things have their place, and there is certainly a place for the warm and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Scares Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Scares Me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-Vh2MH2SwDMQ\/UE6ChmdblPI\/AAAAAAAABm8\/q6jyuxzKMo0\/s400\/1987+scan0012.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html\",\"name\":\"What Scares Me\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Scares Me\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Scares Me","description":"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Scares Me","og_description":"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-Vh2MH2SwDMQ\/UE6ChmdblPI\/AAAAAAAABm8\/q6jyuxzKMo0\/s400\/1987+scan0012.jpg"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html","name":"What Scares Me","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-10T19:23:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Teo Bishop has a post on Patheos titled \u201cPaganism Beyond the Warm and Fuzzy.\u201d He describes two personal experiences where someone almost died in dramatic","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/what-scares-me.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Scares Me"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}