Fear

Many who have read Frank Herbert’s Dune series are familiar with “the Litany Against Fear”

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Yet for many of us, our fears remain the guiding force in our lives. We fear failure, we fear getting hurt, we fear disappointment, we fear disappointing, and some of us even fear success. The major decisions in our lives, which career to pursue, who to marry, where to live, often reflect more about what we fear than they reflect what we aspire to. Moreover, these fears affect our behavior. We allow ourselves to become arrogant, rude, self-righteous, even violent or paralyzed, when faced with that which we fear.

The question is, how can we claim faith if we are led by our fears? The belief in an All-Knowing, All-Powerful Creator who nurtures and sustains us seems juxtaposed to fear. Moreover, the belief in Divine Will and Divine Decree should lead us to an understanding that things are unfolding as they are supposed to. So, since we are enlightened with this awareness of an Omniscient, Omnipotent God, then what is there to fear?

Yet we go through our daily lives afraid. We are afraid that there are people out to get us, afraid of losing our livelihood, afraid of rejection, afraid of disappointment, afraid of change. We devise strategy after strategy to insulate ourselves from these fears, and we use these fears as justification for all manner of bad behavior. We behave selfishly because we imagine others are doing the same. We hoard and spend out of fear that the money will be gone tomorrow. We hold in our feelings because we are afraid of rejection. And, we shy away from risk because we fear failure and we fear not knowing how success might change our lives.

Because we have signed on to the notion that our fears are what protect us and not our faith, we remain stuck. We remain stuck in lives that don’t challenge us, with people who don’t inspire us, and with habits that don’t really serve us. We serve time in jobs that we don’t like instead of pursuing our dreams. We stay stuck in bad relationships for fear of being alone. We spend months, even years loving from afar thinking that loneliness is better than heartbreak. We spend hours of our day, that add up to years of our lives, wasting time.

If we truly are people of faith, then why not, why not take a chance? Chase your dreams, walk away from bad relationships, tell that person who catches your eye how you feel, don’t be afraid to reinvent who you are. Is there really anything to be afraid of?