There were they in great fear, where no fear was (Psalm 53:5). This Scripture verse is of special relevance for us today as our society is in general extremely conditioned by fear. Fear is a dangerous impulse because it is prone to make us irrational and to nurture anger (which is the mother of all passions). Fear also blinds us more than anything else. Therefore, one of our most important tasks right now is to identify our real fears because the things we think we fear aren’t necessarily the things that make us afraid.
It is important in our personal and corporate lives to face the challenge of identifying our real fears because it seems that so much of our deep visceral fear is a projected fear. We need to have the honesty, humility and patience to follow that projection and see where it comes from. Is there fear where there is actually no fear? We often make tremendous and catastrophic mistakes acting to alleviate, circumvent, or (try to) obliterate imagined fears through a failure of facing what we are really frightened of. By rigorously and analytically asking the question of where our fears come from and what they tell us, there a real chance of finding security and hope.
In Scripture, the phrase, Do not be afraid, comes up 365 times. The necessary preliminary for overcoming fear is owning fear. This is where we often fall short in the endeavor to identify our real fears because fear is humiliating. Fear involves an owning of my non-omnipotence; of my non-capacity to save myself in a given situation. That is why it is so important to follow the impulse of fear to its root and to tackle it there.
Once you have found your fear, let love find you there. Call it forth in yourself there. And I mean by love the self-giving kind; non-possessive; capable even in extreme situations of honoring otherness. Fear will loosen its grip and an uncanny freedom will spread its wings (cf. Exodus 19:4; Psalm 91:4). Dealing with fear head-on can be the beginning of wisdom (cf. Proverbs 1:7).
David J. Conrad
It is important in our personal and corporate lives to face the challenge of identifying our real fears because it seems that so much of our deep visceral fear is a projected fear. We need to have the honesty, humility and patience to follow that projection and see where it comes from. Is there fear where there is actually no fear? We often make tremendous and catastrophic mistakes acting to alleviate, circumvent, or (try to) obliterate imagined fears through a failure of facing what we are really frightened of. By rigorously and analytically asking the question of where our fears come from and what they tell us, there a real chance of finding security and hope.
In Scripture, the phrase, Do not be afraid, comes up 365 times. The necessary preliminary for overcoming fear is owning fear. This is where we often fall short in the endeavor to identify our real fears because fear is humiliating. Fear involves an owning of my non-omnipotence; of my non-capacity to save myself in a given situation. That is why it is so important to follow the impulse of fear to its root and to tackle it there.
Once you have found your fear, let love find you there. Call it forth in yourself there. And I mean by love the self-giving kind; non-possessive; capable even in extreme situations of honoring otherness. Fear will loosen its grip and an uncanny freedom will spread its wings (cf. Exodus 19:4; Psalm 91:4). Dealing with fear head-on can be the beginning of wisdom (cf. Proverbs 1:7).
David J. Conrad
RSS Feed
