Be Not Afraid

“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvellously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I was at a four-way intersection the other day, stopped at the light in the left-turn lane; the road just wide enough for three lanes of traffic. A 16-wheeler was making a right turn into the lane beside me. I felt in imminent danger of being crushed by this vehicle many many times larger than I was. I had to trust that the driver from his vantage point looking down on me would look after me and my car. But there was still that moment of visceral fear, a fear of injury, pain, yes, even death.

As we have waited for the results of a medical test, we have all known the fear of what the results might show, along with the niggling fear that had we only done something different in the past, this all might have ben avoided; fear, that we had been the catalyst.

We fear the possibility of those things that we have no control over, of the unknown, of failure …. whatever. Fear can keep us from branching out in new areas at work, (We might not be good enough.), from leaving an unsatisfactory job, and looking for something more in keeping with our values (It might not pay enough money), from making a commitment to another person (We might grow apart.) All these and many more are the result of fear.

If instead of focusing on the ‘what ifs’, we can focus on what the present moment holds, the excitement of a new job, the challenge of a new opportunity, the joy in a new relationship, that fear will take a secondary place. Fear doesn’t disappear, but acknowledging what is still possible, what it is that is of prime importance in one’s life, will move the focus away from fear.

Those scary thoughts at three o’clock in the morning will still exist. Try acknowledging that they are there and then focusing on those things that are also realities in our lives like friendship, security, and life itself.

There is a reason that the words ‘fear not’ and ‘be not afraid’ occur many times in the old and new testaments. Indeed, some people say that they appear more often than any other phrase.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

The writers of those ancient texts are speaking of their experiences, of what they found to be true, that in not fearing, they [and by extension, we] can live more wholly. Next time you are afraid, try focusing as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests above, on what is also the positive in that moment.

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