Confession: I am a closet fan of megachurch preacher Joel Osteen. Yes, you read that correctly, the toothy, perfectly coifed child-of-god, Joel Osteen. When I’m at my mom’s house, I join her to watch his sermon on Sunday mornings, and more often than not I walk away from it super-inspired. Now mind you, I’m not a Christian (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but his words are always a much-needed kick in the tush.
If you look beyond the Jesus-speak, you’ll see that Osteen is a great motivational speaker and, on some level, a kick-ass life coach. In fact, I have his book, The Power of I Am, on hold at the library. But there was one sermon he did that didn’t sit right with me: he urged parishioners pray and have faith, because that’s how good things will happen to them. He used the example of his nephew, who suffered from depression and had tried everything to no avail, but he prayed and prayed and then VOILA- the dark clouds turned to sunny days, which was incredibly misleading (and dangerous for others suffering from mental illness, but that’s a talk for another day).
And I mean, I’m not here to tell people not to pray, I’m just disappointed that he didn’t also include a call to action, because let’s be honest–prayer alone is not going to get you out of a financial bind, or fix your marriage, or help you pass that test. You need to take charge of your finances, or go to counseling and improve marital communications, or STUDY. I can’t imagine anyone’s god would just reward them for sitting around like a passive lump, all because they prayed.
Looking back, though, the sermon did help me in that it reminded me to show up for myself. I want to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck? I need to re-evaluate my spending/saving habits. I hate my body? I need to eat and workout smarter. My writing career is in limbo? I need to dedicate my time to writing and writing and more writing, finishing projects, and actively pursuing publishing opportunities every day.
For those of you who are believers, please do continue to commune with your god, but don’t forget that actual hard work moves more mountains that hoping and wishing and praying. You’re cordially invited to actively make your dreams come true!
xoxo,
Raquel Ivelisse