(The Nationalist, 10 June 2005)
The most commonly used phrase in the bible is ‘Fear not’. It is used more than eighty times. We human beings must be in a special class of slow learners, because, even though we are told so often by God not to be afraid, we still are. For example, we are afraid that if others knew the truth about us, they wouldn’t like us.
What are our greatest fears? I think they are of love and commitment. We are afraid to love, lest we experience rejection or betrayal. We are afraid of the risk of love, because it leaves us open to be hurt. And this, in turn, leads us to fear the commitment that is inseparable from love.
We fear commitment, believing that it entails a loss of freedom. For example, if I commit myself to one person in marriage, that closes off the option of a marital relationship with others. But, without commitment, there is no belonging, life becomes a series of experiments, a merciless sequence of choices leading to desolation of spirit. Life becomes a matter of living in the land of perpetual postponement, skimming over the surface of everything, never living in depth, always waiting for things to come right at some time in the future. Having no commitment to another person means living within the boundaries of the self, never truly reaching out or growing beyond our limitations.
Fear clouds the truth, especially the truth about myself. Fear constricts, narrows, blinds the vision, paralyzes action. Much of what we do in life is a matter of running away from ourselves; we plunge into substitutes to avoid looking ourselves in the face. But God wants us to look ourselves, and reality, in the face, since self-knowledge is the beginning of spiritual growth. If I know myself, then I have already begun to know God. If I know, accept and love myself I am already on the way to knowing, accepting and loving others, to knowing, accepting and loving God.
Fear is linked to low self-esteem, even to self-loathing. Fear causes, expresses and reinforces low self-esteem. Because of this, many of us live below our best. We are better than we think we are. Jesus is saying to us that we matter in God’s eyes, we are not insignificant.
The reason Jesus gives us for not being afraid is that God is our Creator, and he cares for us. We count in the sight of God. Whatever our situation in life, whether we live or die, we are in the hands of God, and he cares for us.
For those in a hurry: ‘Never be afraid to accept the truth about yourself – no matter how good it may be.’ (Anon.)