Fearless

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When it feels as if all that we love is falling apart, it is difficult to see a silver lining.  The despair this brings causes fear. Fear leads us to unconscionable situations, where all manner of horrors live.

William Sloan Coffin, Jr., minister, peace and civil rights activist said, "The opposite of love is not hate; the opposite of love is fear."  

 Hate is something learned through fear.  Fear comes first.  For example, as a child, I feared falling from high places. After seeing images of people falling, being told over and over to get away from the edge and finally, having someone in our community fall from a height that crippled him, I learned to hate high places. This hate grew into a phobia that nearly crippled me. Fortunately, I learned to retrain my brain to understand that high places can be dangerous if I am not in a safe position. In other words, I don't hang by one hand from a cliff edge. (I still don't like to be up high, but I am not afraid like I was before.)

History has taught us that fear is a lethal weapon. When people are led to fear something or someone, they easily learn to hate.  Once that hate festers in their hearts and souls, horrific things happen.

 Fear is also used as a control devise. Parents have used this tactic for centuries. - Don't eat your vegetables and you can't have dessert! Misbehave in school and you will get punished even worse when you get home! - Fear of punishment, of having things taken away, keeps children in line...that is, until they rebel or the fear tactics become abusive.  This is also true of adults.

Leaders of all types use fear this way, also.  There is fear that a job can be lost by someone else taking it over. There is fear that people from this country or that will come and force their beliefs on another group of people. There is fear that one religion will destroy another religion.

When this type of fear becomes ingrained into the psyche of a person, community, or country, then the humans, who are fearful, can be convinced to do hateful things in retaliation. 

Right now, our world is full of fearful things - natural disasters, wars, threats of wars, injustice, inhumane practices - the list seems endless. The media is being used as a tool to increase our fear. If we feed the fear, then we will be unable to think clearly.  We will not be able to act decisively. We will be bound up in a flight or fight trap that never ends well.

But, how do we remain fearless?  

  • turn off the TV and computer/cellphone news feeds
  • find something to give thanks for each day
  • find ways of helping others - (A door held, a packaged carried, a meal cooked and delivered can mean the world to someone.) 
  • listen to music, sing, dance, paint, sculpt, garden...do something creative every day
  • hug your family and friends
  • say, "I love you." (If those you love are not around, say it to yourself. Self love helps us to be fearless.)
  • pray, meditate, smudge, light candles, drum - do whatever practice feels best for you to connect to the Source
May we all support each other in our fearlessness!  May we all see the silver lining, no matter how dark the clouds. May our fearlessness bring Peace to ourselves, our families, our communities and the World.

Blessings!

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