One of the greatest obstacles to your growing is the fear of making a fool of yourself. Any real step forward implies the risk of failure. Yet we must make them, trusting in Christ. Thomas Merton

When my children were young each of them had a favorite TV show they would be content to watch over and over again. One of my youngest loved Seabert the Seal, an animated series about two young friends and an orphaned seal who band together to save other animals from harm. To­day my son has the heart of an animal rescuer, fostering Great Danes, taking in strays both wild and tame and has entered the realm of all “Seaberts,” having earned a diving certification.

My youngest, I’m almost embar­rassed to say, was enamored with Co­nan the Barbarian. This may well ex­plain his fascination with stage fighting and fencing, both of which he had to learn while in drama school in NYC, and which he thoroughly enjoyed when cast in the role of Friar Tuck for the New York Renaissance Faire.

And then there was son number two, who would watch an early Peter Pan with Mary Martin day after day, and while he never seemed to develop a penchant for flying or pirates, I often thought he must have been unnerved a bit by the whole idea of Never Never Land, because he most certainly did not want to stay a child forever. Even in grammar school he always did his homework on time, went to bed early to be ready for the morning bus, saved his money and was completely self-sufficient before he went to college. In fact, his brothers delighted in calling him “the old man” when he was still in his twenties.

This son did, however, become a teacher of language arts, always im­pressing on his students the value of good literature and great stories, both reading them and writing them.

I was never really a fan of Peter Pan, but having returned to the story with an older and more experienced heart, I have uncovered a wealth of wisdom from the book’s author, J.M. Barrie, who wrote the gem, “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” Having read it again, I immedi­ately thought of Peter the Apostle in a boat on the sea, and reframed Bar­rie’s words: The moment you doubt whether you can walk on water, you cease for ever to be able to do it.

Barrie’s quote seems to be address­ing the power of believing in oneself, and certainly has graced any number of motivational posters over the years. But the depth of the truth about doubt can more fully be understood through the teaching of Scripture, through the story of Peter, and disciples terrified at the sight of Jesus walking on the water toward them in the storm.

“At once Jesus spoke to them, ‘Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter said to him in reply, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me! Immedi­ately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

“Take courage,” Jesus says first, because he knows that fear is the root of doubt. With that assurance, Peter was able to walk on water because he first made sure it was what Jesus wanted him to do. And even though Peter faltered in a moment of weak­ness, when his human nature gave in to fear, his faith spurred him to turn again to the Lord, who was there to save him, and who gave the disciples a unique opportunity to grow in faith when he asked, “Why did you doubt?”

I like to imagine that, when the winds died down, Jesus and the disciples sat in the boat and discussed this question, as we would do in faith sharing sessions, each of them look­ing into their hearts to discern how fear had gotten the best of them. It would have been a time for learning that while faith in oneself is impor­tant, we cannot truly walk on water unless we first embrace God’s plan for us and have faith in Christ.

Mary Morrell serves as managing edi­tor for The Monitor.