“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23)

• Stuff I quote a lot: The Bible; the Confessions; hymns; great historical documents; authors such as C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Augustine, Don Miller, Philip Yancey; Rebekah’s sermons.
• Stuff I hardly ever reference: Politicians; television personalities; movie stars.

Until today. Today I’m quoting comedian Jim Carrey.

Carrey, one of my favorite movie funny guys (The Mask; Liar, Liar; Bruce Almighty), spoke at a recent University commencement. He told the story of how his father chose not to pursue his dream of being a professional comedian. Instead, fearful of failure, Carrey’s dad pursued a different, more pedestrian, career; not because he wanted to, but because it was a “safe” route for his family.

But, when Jim Carrey was 12 years old, his dad lost that “secure” job and the family struggled anyway – the safe route turned out to be no guarantee.

“I learned that you can fail at what you don’t want to do,” Carrey told the graduates; “so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

FAMILIAR STORY: Jim Carrey’s story reminds me of a recent golf outing and a “risk-reward” par five. The setup called for either challenging the water, cutting the corner, and possibly reaching the green in two, or hitting a couple of safe iron shots into the wide fairway then pitching up to the green in regulation.

Typically, I tend to go all Phil Mickelson, have fun, and take the risk. But I’d been playing well so I decided to dial back to caution in order to protect my score. I pulled out my reliable six-iron, lined up with the safe, wide part of the fairway, pulled back the club head, swung deliberately and carefully, and proceeded to chunk my shot directly into the water.

It’s just as easy to fail at something you don’t want to do as it is to fail at something you’re excited about. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s possibly easier to fail at something we don’t want to be doing, exactly because we have neither the passion nor the excitement to give it our very best.

It turns out that believing is every bit as important as having the requisite skill. It was certainly that way when I was a school teacher, sometimes making it through a long day with extremely challenging children simply because I love them, loved my work, and stepped forward with confidence.

Not just “making it,” but “thriving,” because it’s passion that turns out to be the “X-factor;” not luck, not even skill; but belief multiplied by love.

“Belief multiplied by love.” I like that. It’s certainly the story of my life as a disciple.

– DEREK