A Scary Thing

Over the last few weeks, I have found myself dealing with something we all deal with. When a particular thought or emotion arises, I run it through my "fear check". Often the emotion doesn't pass the test. The emotion is a ghost... a ghost created by some fear that I harbor. Once the ghost has been revealed, it dissipates.

Perhaps the greatest change in the political landscape over the last 7 years is the rampant use of fear.by our politicians.

Fear has always been a primary motivator of the far fascist right. They would have us believe that we must fear others of color. We must fear foreigners. We must fear a nuclear Iran, but not a nuclear Pakistan. We must fear the immigrants who take our jobs. We must fear future attacks. We are told that we must fear gay marriage or the institution will be destroyed.

Over and over, we are programmed by the MSM to fear and then to silence or preemptively attack those who do not agree with us, or those who worship a different god.

Tonight, our culture celebrates the victory of courage over fear. We put on masks and we go out into the dark. We learn to face our fears.

We cannot deal with the great real issues of the day as long as we are manipulated by our fears. For these issues require courage, clear thinking, calm resolution, and great compassion... not fear.

There are many writers and leaders who have spoken of fear. Here are a few:

We now know that the human animal is characterized by two great fears that other animals are protected from: the fear of life and the fear of death... Heidegger brought these fears to the center of his existential philosophy. He argued that the basic anxiety of [humanity] is anxiety about being-in-the-world, as well as anxiety of being-in-the-world. That is, both fear of death and fear of life, of experience and individuation. Ernest Becker

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are. Don Miguel Ruiz

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. Anne Frank

Fear is not the natural state of civilized people. Aung San Suu Kyi

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. Bertrand Russell

I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me. I know some people are terrified of the bomb. But then some people are terrified to be seen carrying a modern screen magazine. Experience teaches us that silence terrifies people the most. Bob Dylan

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest. Henry David Thoreau

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Marianne Williamson

Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a freedom. Marilyn Ferguson

In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Without darkness,
Nothing comes to birth,
As without light
Nothing flowers. May Sarton

Fear is a scary thing. oZ

Let us put a face on it.

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