Not wanting to be afraid

We started off a very beautiful Sunday morning by attending the 8:00 service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The church gave off genuinely caring, supportive, vibes, and everyone seemed to truly care about one another. Seeing this made me feel really warm inside. The preachers sermon was very inspiring. He spoke about wounds, and about how instead of hiding them, we should share them with others, because we could really help someone out by just sharing our stories. I tend to be a very closed person. I don't share things that are really personal to me, especially painful things, and so this task is something that will be difficult for me but that I will definitely try. The preacher asked for people to come up to the front and pray for someone that needs helps or for something that you need help with, and a bunch of people went up. I unfortunately was not one of those people because I was too scared to go up, even though I wanted to go up because I had someone very important to me in mind. Looking back at myself now, I am really frustrated with the fact that I did not go up with everyone else. It would have been a great opportunity to share a powerful experience with other people. I am on a trip learning about such powerful, brave, inspiring activists, and here I am scared to go up in front of a church. I am definitely going to work on my shyness, and try to open up more and be more like the wonderful people that I am learning about this week. I don't want to miss out on opportunities because of myself. I don't want to stand in my own way. I want to be brave. When the time comes for me to step up and stand for what I believe in, I want to be ready. I don't want to be afraid. Luckily, this trip is helping me to realize that. 

Jaida Collins 
City Neighbors High School