As a young woman, my confidence lagged far beyond my abilities. Amid transcendent brilliance at college (and burdened by an enormous reading list), I rarely spoke out. But once, early in a semester, I was able to complete Saint Augustine’s Confessions on time for my Humanities class. I loved his insights and challenges to my faith, and I spoke with both curiosity and confidence.
The following weeks, though, I flagged as we rolled through Dante, Milton and Rabelais. So, I cracked the spines of my paperback books to give the impression I’d read farther than I had. My confidence was as false as my cheat. But when discussions rolled around to something Saint Augustine might have something to say about, I realized that I did too.
And so, for the entire semester, I offered Saint Augustine’s perspective in every class. The professor beamed. And I learned that confidence sometimes just requires getting started.
I wrote this piece for Five Minute Friday, a faith-based community blogging site at: https://fiveminutefriday.com/2019/02/14/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-confident/ Check out the other short essays on the topic of Confidence.
Fashioned For Joy 