Fear--A Cultural Focus

The American cultural focus these days is on risk, threat, danger, hazard, warning.  Swine flu, terrorism, AIDS, e. coli, massive blood infections.  Dust mites, global warming, mad cow disease, tsunamis, Lyme disease, autism. Failure, computer viruses, insomnia, PAD, ED, TB, plagiarism, death. Losing face, losing money, losing custody, losing control. We are dogged by angst.

Max Lucado wrote a thought-provoking book about this subject called Fearless: Imagine Your Life without Fear. He made me think about it, and I realize how huge fear is in our culture. I can think of quite a number of important things I could have done--might have done--but never even considered because of my fear and timidity. With God’s help, I can overcome fear in my life. I think it’s my biggest obstacle.

Can you imagine what your life would be like without fear?  What if fear and anxiety went away and left you in peace? How would it be if we could trust God so completely that we relinquished control of our lives to him?  He’s in control, anyway; we just think we are.

Would you live differently? How might it change things?

Picture borrowed from Voices of Oneness Blog

Fear--A Cultural Focus

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2009/12/fear-cultural-focus.html

Angst

A few days ago, I told my community college creative writing class, “You need to be sure to give your main character some situation to deal with, some angst, some disturbance of normal life.”

They looked at me and blinked a few times without reacting much. I said, “Do you know what ‘angst’ means?”

Most of them just kept looking at me and blinking. A few shook their heads. I wasn’t sure I knew, either, now that we got to that point. We looked it up. One student said it is a German word, meaning fear. People rather like the word angst; it has an appealing intellectual sound.

The handy-dandy Merriam-Webster says it is a “fearful concern or interest, painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill.”

Another definition is a “cause of anxiety.” Anxiety is a cause of anxiety? It is spiral in nature, then, feeding upon itself.

It gets worse: “an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it.”

We decided anxiety and fear are related, that fear is sometimes paralyzing. It can pull you down into some dark place where you feel very much alone with your disturbing thoughts. It can be debilitating. Much of literature (we think of our English 2307 stories as literature) shows characters learning how to cope with angst—or not.

I can’t say this in my class, because it is a public educational institution and it’s not allowed. But I can say it here all I want to: God never leaves us alone. We can depend on his love, which is stronger than any angst ever could be. According to this linked web site, the Bible tells us not to fear 365 times. God knows fear is widespread and contagious, and he does not want us to be enslaved by it.

First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

In his love, we can find peace.

Angst

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2008/02/angst.html

Thursday Thirteen: Problem Stuff

Thirteen things I have a hard time getting rid of:

1. fire ants

2. gray hair

3. ten pounds

4. impulsiveness

5. a fear of spiders

6. love of chocolate

7. lack of muscle tone

8. the habit of being almost late

9. my habit of letting stacks of paper grow

10. a tendency to wake up just before the alarm does

11. the idea that I always have to be busy doing something

12. the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the papers I need to grade

13. a sneaking suspicion that people don’t care as much about the doings of Britney and “Fed-Ex,” Angie and Brad, and Tom and Katie as the news media seem to think they do

14. my tendency to be intimidated sometimes, rather than speaking up about things, even though I fully believe what Paul wrote: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6-8).

Well, okay, I see that's fourteen! Oh, well!

Thursday Thirteen: Problem Stuff

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/thursday-thirteen-problem-stuff.html

Fear

"I’m not comfortable with fear.” I read this in a comment on another blog; it was written by a blogger called “Peppylady.” I am not comfortable with fear, either.

I decided that fear is very big and nasty and is responsible for much more than we realize.

Here are some things fear does to us:

It stands between us and our self-expression. It keeps us from saying things we want to say or that we feel we should or could say. That covers any number of situations, from when we should stand up for ourselves to when we should ask for help or try to explain something or find out about something we need to know. We don’t know what to say, and so we often say nothing. We often find it is easier to complain or express anger than to say something complimentary, kind, or loving. We have trouble saying, “I love you.”

Therefore, it stands between people, preventing good relationships. When we hold out a tender part of ourselves to another, offering love, risk is involved. A little voice says to us, “What if he doesn’t say he loves me, too?” We find it more comforting to stay safe and just not make the offer.

Because fear prevents good relationships, it keeps us from showing love to our children and our spouses and other family members. We build walls—protective covers to keep ourselves from being hurt. We are afraid to take the risk of loving. We listen to that mean little voice saying “Don’t let him hurt you.” Our children grow up angry and resentful—and full of fear, themselves. It is less risky-feeling to lash out in anger than to speak of love. We cannot forgive, and so hurts may build up for years.

Then when we get thick walls built around ourselves, we can’t let ourselves feel emotion. And we can’t, therefore, feel other people’s hurts. We are too preoccupied with being sure we are treated right to be able to reach out to help someone in need—even people we love.

The Bible says, “There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives fear away. Fear has to do with being punished. The one who fears does not have perfect love” (First John 4:18).

I used to think that meant when people loved each other perfectly, there would be no fear. I thought if people could just get to that point of loving unselfishly, fear and intimidation would be gone.

But I found out not many years ago through praying, reading the Bible, and studying that, instead, it is talking about the perfect love of God. God is love. And when his Spirit lives in us, his love is what sends fear away. We don’t have to fear anything. He is God of peace, understanding, and love—not darkness and fear.

He is real. And he is powerful—more powerful than forces of darkness—and very loving.


The picture is from this web site: http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/fear.html

Fear

https://connectionsgodandtheworld.blogspot.com/2006/10/fear.html