Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself...but There's a Lot of It

Those words spoken by President long ago to reassure a shaky nation that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" are hope filled words that seem to be falling on deaf ears these days. Perhaps our deafness is caused by a constant bombardment of fear-filled words coming to us from 24 hour news that has now been amplified by intense and polarizing rhetoric from the "right and the left."

In a recent article, "Faith Verses Fear in America" Katherine Marshall offers a telling observation. When fear is in control four things tend to happen: 1 Thinking is shut down 2 There is a heightened stereotyping of others 3 Actions and words are driven by emotion and 4 People are more susceptible to charismatic leaders.

Mix this with what Frank Fured terms "cultural cooling" and you have a recipe for a fear casserole. Fured in his book, "Culture of Fear" writes: "A culture of fear estranges people from one another and breeds an atmosphere of suspicion that distracts people from facing up to the challenges confronting society."

So we are afraid that illegal immigrants will be the ruin of society. We fear Muslims are plotting to take over the world. We fear that too much money is going to inner city schools thus depriving children with "real potential" the resources to exceed. We fear crime so we buy more guns and get very angry if someone suggests that we do not have the right to arm ourselves with whatever kind of gun we chose even if that gun might be a danger to the "larger welfare of the whole community." We fear the loss of individual rights in the face of creeping government intervention.

The partial truth is that all of the above mentioned "fears" are grounded in some reality. The question that is lost, however, in an atmosphere of fear is how much of it is truth and how much of it is amplified by the magnifying glass of our fear. Donal Walsh came up with what the letters for "fear" sometimes really mean: False Evidence Appearing Real.

I'm not saying that we should roll over and play dead when it comes to real threats in our society but what is the role of "people of faith" in the face of fear? If the saying, "Feed your faith and starve your fears to death" has any real meaning it is time for a faith banquet.

In the Christan tradition we attempt to follow a man who looked into his first follower's eyes and saw fear. He loved them very much so instead of scolding them for not having enough faith he simply said, "Do not let your hearts be so troubled...believe." Research shows that the world he selected for "troubled" actually means "terrified." Jesus knew that fear was human and natural. He told his disciples basically that it was okay to be a bit afraid since they were all journeying toward a city where death awaited, but he said do not be "too afraid...do not be terrified...do not be scared to death for heaven's sake."

For a follower of Christ fear is to be put into a larger context. Do we feel that some of the things we fear will be "the death of us?" What will we lose...freedom...money...rights...life? Psalm 27 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear. The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid. When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident."

Those words might be a good start for a faith casserole. Fear robs us of vision. Fear steals the ability to risk loving. Fear wants to rule. Fear likes an enemies list and wants to limit the people on our love list.

Having faith does not mean that we are naive and stupid but having faith has always meant risk. After all faith is faith. It is sometimes called a "leap of faith." That does not mean jumping off the cliff of reason but it does mean not sucking in the atmosphere of fear that is being offered so much lately.

Fear is doing a number on us. It is time to feed our faith so that at least we can make some of our fears "anemic."

The "faith manual" says something like this...What can separate us from God?...shall tribulation, distress, persecution, peril, famine, sword (have I gotten to your fear yet).. neither death, nor life nor principalities nor powers...nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth (are we there yet?)...nor anything in all creation shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus... That about wraps it up.

Bless you
jody