Sitting Inside the Uncomfortable-ness

---by Sara Flecher

As human beings we all desire the feeling of being grounded, settled, and in control of our lives. We try to plan our futures by dreaming up possible scenarios about where we will live, who we will marry, and where we will work. It is extremely uncomfortable to not know our future and to not understand everything that happens in our lives. And this uncomfortable feeling often leads us to cling to things we know and understand, even if they may not be right for us. 

Think of this in terms of our relationships. When we’re drifting in the sea of ‘single-dom’ it is natural to want to grab hold of something (or someone) that is familiar. I often think that it is because the person God has chosen for us is probably someone we haven’t met yet and it’s difficult to grab on to and find solace in an empty notion of ‘someone out there’. So we think back to previous relationships and question our decisions to end them or wonder what we did wrong to be broken up with because the unknown person or plan that God has for us is not something we can dwell on.. It’s Unknown! 

I think this is also true in regards to the Church’s teachings. Some of the views of the Catholic Church on birth control, gay marriage, and premarital sex make people very uncomfortable because they do not understand them. So their tendency is to find a viewpoint, often times contradictory to the Church’s teachings, that they do understand in order to have that anchor or that comfort of knowing. If our religion was easy to understand or easy to practice, there would be a very limited amount of goodness and grace that we could receive. But just because we may not fully understand something doesn’t mean we should go find something that’s easier to understand, it just means that we need to stay uncomfortable for a while and explore it until the Truth is revealed to us. 

So I bring the challenge to this community of young Catholic women to sit inside the uncomfortable-ness. Really feel it. It definitely has the potential to sting a little at first, but once you put yourself in that place, it is a very freeing feeling. You no longer are lost at sea trying to grab hold of whatever familiar you can find, but instead you find strength and opportunity in being open to possibilities that you can’t even begin to predict. God becomes your anchor and as you build a stronger and stronger foundation, it won’t be as easy for life circumstances to “rock your boat”. 

The future is sometimes scary and trusting God and his plan takes plenty of practice, but it is worth trying because the reward of a truly holy relationship or finding the Truth in the Church’s teachings is too phenomenal to ignore. God’s plan, the Unknown, is not something to be scared of… it is a tremendous and wonderful gift just waiting to be revealed.

Sara is a 23-year-old Master's student getting ready to graduate and enter the working world. She is a runner, an aunt, a sister to 3, a painter, and a computer scientist. This is the first time she has shared her thoughts in this type of forum and is very grateful for the opportunity!