Be Not Afraid

The phrase “Fear not,” is used about eighty times in the Bible.  Other word pairings that would be equal to “fear not” (“do not fear,” “be not afraid,” “do not fear”) are used about thirty times.  “Fear” has always been around. Aristotle said fear “is caused by whatever we feel has great power of destroying us, of harming us in ways that tend to cause us great pain.”  He went on to say that fear does not strike those who are “in the midst of great prosperity.”  Those who are afraid of losing what they have,  are the most vulnerable and the fear they know is not rational.  “No passion,” Edmund Burke wrote, “so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning  as fear.” 

Jon Meacham writes in The Soul of America, “the opposite of fear is hope, defined as the expectation of good fortune not only for ourselves but for the group to which we belong.  Fear breeds anxiety and produces anger; hope, particularly in a political sense, breeds optimism and feelings of well-being.  Fear is about limits; hope is about growth.  Fear cast its eyes warily, even shiftily, across the landscape; hope looks forward, toward the horizon.  Fear points at others, assigning blame; hope points ahead, working for a common good.  Fear pushes away; hope pulls others closer.  Fear divides; hope unifies.”

Hope is a form of faith and tends to produce what it sees.  Fear (despair) is a form of faith and tends to produce what it sees.  What do you see right now? Are you afraid?  Are you hopeful? 

In the aftermath of World War II, Harry S. Truman said, “We have learned that nations are interdependent and that recognition of our dependence upon one another is essential to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all mankind.”  In other words, our “immortal declaration” cannot be limited to just those who live in one little geographical segment of the world.  In order to find “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” we have to join hands with all others around the globe.  This is not to be feared—it is our great hope.  Truman saw everything was linked together—“So long as the basic rights of men are denied in any substantial portion of the earth, men everywhere must live in FEAR (emphasis mine) of their own rights and their own security.”  The divisiveness I see now in our political, social and religious life is between two faiths:  fear and hope.  The former sees everything going to pieces and that kind of fear “robs the mind of all its powers.”  The latter, hope, sees new possibilities growing out of the present disaster.  What do you see?  What is your faith?

Photo by Nancy Montgomery Reynolds