The man without fear!!!

A close friend of mine told me yesterday that, among the many thoughts turning around in her head about this coming year and what it would bring, there was a distinct undercurrent of fear. I didn't understand this, so I urged her to continue on. What would she be doing this time next year? Would she be alive? Would she be happy? Would she be closer to God or further away? Would her life be significant? These are all valid questions that I think most people ask (oddly enough, I wouldn't think to ask but 1 of them...and that I ask every day. Bonus points if you can guess which one), but is fear the default position for the people that entertain these questions? I mean...they say that people fear what they do not understand and I guess that makes a degree of sense, but how much really? Why bother being afraid of something (your life) that needs you as much as you need it? Why should life seem threatening when our end means its own as well? If anything, the mystery of life seems to me inviting, albeit challenging.

I realized something about the nature of my fear - I'm not afraid of what I don't know and cannot possibly know. If anything, I'm afraid of what I could know but don't find out, opting instead to be comfortably horrified by whatever "worst possible case" assumptions I make. In other words, I've identified two areas of unknown in my life: that which I could not definitively, completely know, regardless of how hard I tried and those things for which it would cost "too much" to come outside of myself to find out. The latter is crippling: it limits human interaction, stifles praise in the midst of struggle or pain, and enslaves the mind/soul over time. Ugly stuff! So, I think I've found my New Din's resolution: stop feeding the fearful side of not knowing!!! Come outside (of myself) more often!!! Now don't get it twisted! I've no plans of shunning my Christianity to embrace an "open to everything in the world" theology. I'm talking about a purposeful, guided by the Holy Spirit, examination of the things I've done through the years to limit my growth by embracing fear...and then, I'm going to ball them all up and slingshot them out of my life. I want to be a modern day example of what a soul winning Christian looks like without fear. God grant me grace for the journey!!!

As for my friend, yeah, I'm taking her along with me. No one left behind. Ha! Chilly Ciao ya'll.