Make a difference Mondays
Meet Avi Gardner
By, Gina Meyers
In our new format, Serendipity Press will be introducing you
to people and concepts that “Make a Difference”, each Monday. In Avi Gardner’s
first book, From Darkness To Light: A Fight for my Life and Light, (
Copyright © 2016 by, Avi Gardner, Serendipity Media, 978-0692450390) Avi tackles
many difficult subjects. She poses many important questions in her book, one of which, “how do we have the courage to
forgive ourselves when unforgivable things have happened to our spirits?” She
answers this and many other questions with a positive and upbeat attitude,
taking into account you must acknowledge and not ignore what has transpired and
you must give yourself time to “heal and to feel”. She has done an exceptional
job at providing resources and thoughts on what has helped her through what
many term, “ritual abuse”. She has become a singer and a song writer and has
written not only a comprehensive guide on putting God first, but her message
also is shown in poetry and prose. Read in her own words, Chapter 29, Courage.
Chapter 29 - Courage
William Shakespeare wrote, “Our fears are traitors and make
us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
Fear is the opposite of faith. Just as we are commanded to
love, we are commanded to “Fear not.” Courage is a choice. It is faith in
action.
As Peter Hill founder of World Tai Chi, G.E.T.I.T., and
author of G.E.T.I.T. Together teaches, courage is not the absence of
fear. It is the ability to move forward even when we feel it. We do not need to
wait for fear to go away before taking action. In fact, we do just the
opposite. By moving forward through our fear, we gain more courage to take the
next action. When we, as Peter Hill says, “…have a clear goal with pure
intent,” we can move past any fear. As Anthony Robbins said, a clear enough why
overcomes any how. Susan Jeffers, author of, Feel the Fear and Do It
Anyway, says that fear does not go away. The more we exercise our muscles,
our ability to move through fear strengthens.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability
to keep moving forward even when we feel afraid, unless of course, a bus is
coming our way.
It takes courage to keep looking and moving forward when we
don’t see where we are going. We can pray for this courage and keep looking
toward our dreams knowing that they will come to pass, taking one step at a
time.
When I have something big enough to believe in, faith
replaces fear. Whenever I feel afraid, I choose to replace this fear by
believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ, by loving God with all of my heart,
all of my might, all of my mind, and all of my soul. When I believe that He is
taking care of things for me, while I work super hard, I am filled with His
Light, and His perfect Love casts out all fear.
Before publishing this book, I knew I would be facing a lot
of fears, so I bought a surfboard. I figured having enough faith to feel safe
in the ocean would help me to have enough faith to publish the book.
When I was a kid, I used to surround myself with stuffed
animals at night. I imagined myself submerged deep in the ocean, with sharks
swimming around me. It was always light, and I could see. I knew my numerous
stuffed animals would keep me safe. They would stop the sharks from hurting me.
The same faith that I used as a child is true for me today.
This time, instead of stuffed animals around me, my Heavenly Father has my
back. He won’t let anything hurt me. I am safe. Perfect love casts out all
fear.
We may still fear at times.
God does not expect us to be perfect. We can pray to be filled with
perfect love every day! Eventually, faith replaces this fear.
When I went to the Mormon temple again after a
seventeen-year absence, I felt at home. As my friends and I drove over the
bridge, light from the sunrise illuminated the bay. I knew I was coming home.
It had been a long journey.
Inside the temple, many things were on my mind. As I
mentioned earlier, I had this big test to pass in order to keep my credentials
in California. In order to keep my current position until the end of the year,
I had one shot. I also knew I needed to write my book, and at the same time,
still felt really scared about doing it.
While I sat with my friends inside the temple, two very
clear thoughts came to my head. I had thoughts like this before during very
important times in my life, and they were always right. To me, these thoughts
were direct inspiration, things I needed to know. The first thought was very
clear. “You will pass the test.” The second thought came just as clearly.
“Publish the book. You will be safe. Build my kingdom, and you will be safe.”
The inspiration gave me motivation to keep studying. I spent
hours and days and received several priesthood blessings. Knowing I would pass
brought so much peace that I had the power to study even harder. Sure enough, I passed the test.
When fears regarding my own safety came up about publishing
the book, I kept remembering what God said, “Publish the book, and you will be
safe. Build my kingdom, and you will be safe.”
~
It has been said that courage is the testing point of all
virtues. When we are at a place where every virtue is tested, and we still
choose the right thing, that is courage.
According to Joseph Fielding Smith, there is a difference
between those who are, “brave at heart,” and those who have “the courage of
faith.” The brave at heart fight for a cause and often give up when they see
the battle as hopeless, or when they feel despair. Courage of faith comes when
we believe in something much bigger than ourselves to make things happen. Those
with courage of faith never give up.
Fielding goes on, “He (Paul) labored fearlessly, he had
delivered a divine message, he had resisted the enemy, and they apparently
triumphed over him. He was taken prisoner and subjected to humiliating
treatment by the administrators of the law. He was in bonds, and death awaited
him, but he was still courageous. His was the courage of faith. While he was in
prison and awaiting death, when most people would have thought “Their cause
lost,” Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand.” Imagine how much courage that takes!
He was awaiting death, and still he said to protect himself
with the armor of God.
Fielding continues, “ After we have done all we could do for
the cause of truth, and withstood the evil that men have brought upon us, and
we have been overwhelmed by their wrongs, it is still our duty to stand. We
cannot give up; we must not lie down. Great causes are not won in a single
generation. To stand firm in the face of overwhelming
opposition, when you have done all you can, is the courage of faith. The
courage of faith is the courage of progress. Men who possess that divine
quality go on; they are not permitted to stand still if they would. They are
not simply creatures of their own power and wisdom; they are instrumentalities
of a higher law and a divine purpose.
Others would quit; they would avoid trouble. Such men read history, if at all, only as
they make it; they cannot see the hand of God in the affairs of men, because
they see only with the eye of man and not with the eye of faith. All resistance
is gone out of them – they have left God out of the question. They have not put
on his whole armor. Without it, they are loaded down with fear and
apprehension, and they sink. To such men everything that brings trouble seems
necessary. As Saints of God, it is our duty “to stand,” even when we are
overwhelmed by evil.
He states, “One of the highest qualities of all true
leadership is a high standard of courage.”
As we move forward, we can have something else to look
forward to.
As much as I say it is not
what we experience but the meaning we give to it that matters, I wonder how
much of my identity comes from what I went through. I wonder if some of my
perceived self-worth comes from surviving something big.
What will I do next?
It takes courage as we move
forward living a life based on new beliefs. With courage, we create new
situations where we know these new beliefs are possible. Really, there
is no reason to fear because God is in charge. We are always safe.
God is in Charge
God is in charge,
There is nothing to fear
God is in charge
There is no need to fear
His perfect Love
Casts out all fear
‘Cause God is in charge,
There’s no need to fear
For He knows
What we want
Before we even ask.
He gives us what we need.
There’s no need to look back.
God is in Charge
God is in charge,
There is nothing to fear
God is in charge
There is no need to fear
His perfect Love
Casts out all fear
‘Cause God is in charge,
There’s no need to fear
-Avi Gardner
Author, Guest Speaker, Singer, Avi Gardner
Buy the book
Author, Publisher, Gina Meyers
