“That’s very risky”. “Do you really want to risk it?” “Take a risk for once”. All of these are phrases that are used daily in conversations. The real question should include what is being risked. It can be money, prestige, relationships and more. It can be positive or negative as in what if I risk this and fail? Or, if I take this risk I might end up with….
Have you ever risked anything? In my life, I have taken more than a few risks. None of those were life threatening, but some were life changing. It has been said “the greater the risk the greater the reward”. That can be true when money/wealth is involved or prestige. In my life, I have learned to take risks on others.
When my daughter was much younger, it always felt risky to let her find her own way. As a professor, I take educated risks on all of my students. The risk comes in the form of trusting them or letting them fail or excel without interfering with the process. It is risky because if too many of them fail, then my teaching or my program gets called into question. I am pretty sure if all of them excel, that is good for me and the program.
Here is a deeper question: Has anyone ever taken a risk for you? In my life it was a baseball coach, a school counselor and a Dean of Admissions. These were the first to take a risk on me. I won the position on the field and I graduated from Baylor University. It feels dangerous to take a risk on someone else (basically to trust them and God). It is humbling when someone takes a risk on us.
Who have you risked it for? Who has risked it for you? It seems to me the Creator of the University risked it all for us from the very beginning. The moment the Creator gave every human being free will, the greatest risk in all of history was taken. How can we not take a risk here and there for the betterment or development of another? It was done for us after all.
TMM