Sunday, September 2, 2007

Fear

fear [feer] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

im·pend·ing
[im-pen-ding] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –adjective
1.about to happen; imminent: their impending marriage.
2.imminently threatening or menacing: an impending storm.


Fear fascinates me. I suppose because it is so mysterious... so prevalent... so seemingly real. Oh, I suppose it doesn't so much fascinate me when I am in it... although, even when I am experiencing fear, sometimes, I can step out of my present circumstances and watch myself being scared. In those moments I think, "Huh! Look at me reacting so strongly to something that is not real." Because it's not... it's not real. Fear is an illusion... a mirage. The dictionary tell us that fear is distress caused by IMPENDING danger... further, impending means ABOUT to happen. Therefore fear is never actually happening. It is always something that we perceive is ABOUT to happen. And, as we know, often times, things that are about to happen... never happen. Even the definition above uses the examples of a marriage and a storm. Interesting. How many marriages do you know of that were ABOUT to happen... but never happened? How many times have you put on your raincoat and galoshes due to the weatherman's forecast of a storm... which never happens? Let's take these examples a bit further. Hypothetically, we are scared of a storm... that is something that MIGHT happen. Then the storm happens... we are now scared of skidding off the road in our car... something that MIGHT happen. Then we skid off the road and hit a tree... we are scared that we cannot afford to fix the car... something that MIGHT happen. We notice we are bleeding and are scared that we might have a concussion and what that might mean... something that MIGHT happen. So if we are always living in the moment and never in the future... where is the fear? It does not exist. Fear does not exist in the present. There are exactly two things human beings are scared of: 1. Losing what they have 2. Not getting what they want. Neither of those ever occur in the present moment. To boil it down to it's most basic component, fear is lack of faith. The degree to which we open to faith is the degree to which fear dissipates in our lives... and vice versa. Does that mean that we can become so spiritually connected that fear leaves us entirely? Certainly not. That would be neither possible nor prudent. We need fear. It is God given and therefore integral to our existence. Without fear... if a lion were chasing you, you'd just stand there and be eaten. Fear serves us. So the problem is never fear. The problem is the level to which fear controls our actions. When we begin making fear-based decisions, our natural God-given instinct has grown out of proportion and must be adjusted. The adjustment comes through spiritual practice. Prayer and meditation, service, a nightly behavior review, reading, writing, etc. allow us to tap into the power which tell us that the moment is all there really is. The future is not real. There is no future. A mentor of mine once asked me, "Michael, can you wake up tomorrow; is it possible?" I responded, "Of course." He answered, "No you cannot... because when you wake up tomorrow it will be..." I smiled. "Today," I understood. There is no tomorrow. It is always today. There is no future. There is only the present. And if there is no tomorrow... if there is no future... than there is no fear. Remember that when you project into the future, the reason that it is often ominous, is because you are projecting into a Godless universe. There is no God in the future because the future isn't real. God IS real, so GOD exists only in that which is real... the present. Your view of the future does not involve God and so it is frightening. But when you get to that vision of the future, it will be the present and God will be with you... and the fear will be nowhere to be found. Stay here, my friends. It is presently Sunday, September 2nd 2007 at 9:31. This will only happen once. Not just in your lifetime or mine, but in the whole of human history. Never before in the history of mankind has it been Sunday, September 2nd 2007 at 9:31; and it never will be again. Each moment is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Embrace this truth and watch the fear cease to be.

God bless you,
Michael

2 comments:

Fab said...

Thank you for this post. It made me weep. I'm currently experiencing a big ol' bout of insecurity. My FEAR of failure is palpable. A blog is the best thing you could have done imho. I have desperately missed your meanderings & musings, raves & rants. What a wonderful way to reconnect.
Onward! And thank you Michael.
Love always,

--Fab

dackert said...

I'm glad all your wonderful thinking is in print so the rest of us can have a place to go for inspiration.

Love,
Ramin