Thought for Today

In this sense, we find that fear itself is often born out of love. The great love of a parent toward a child is the very thing that fuels the birth of great fears for this child. Likewise, we fear danger and uncertainty because they threaten the things we love most. Understanding the roots of our fears, we discover the one thing we do not have to fear is fear itself. Rather, perhaps our fears can serve to awaken us, to lead us into deeper knowledge, love, and relationship by tracing fear to the question or uncertainty that lingers behind it. Why am I so fearful of death? Why am I afraid of conflict? Why am I afraid to let people know me? Why am I afraid of feeling powerless? Fear, in this sense, taken off its lofty precipices of uncertainty and examined under a magnifying glass of truth can be a gift that compels us to wisdom, to greater love, even to God.

Years ago, on an evening when national uncertainty was elevated and my own sense of fear was foreboding, I overheard someone singing Amazing Grace, and it seems I heard these familiar words for the first time:

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

What we glimpse in these words is the first moment that the love of God bowls over a soul with love for God, when the grace of the Father moves a heart to fear nothing more than the thought of life without this love, this presence, this gift. This same love reminds us that God is not going anywhere and that nothing in life or death can ever change it. In this world of potential losses, deep cynicism, and fearful circumstances, might we find this perfect love in such a way that casts out lesser fears and draws us even nearer. --Jill Carattini, Slice of Infinity