This is the big one on everybody’s list. This is everybody’s worst devil.  This motivates you to do almost everything you do.

Just think of all the ways you serve your fears. Every drug you keep in your house represents a different fear. You have anti-depressants, tranquillizers, and recreational drugs to control your moods.  You keep Ibuprofen so you won’t have to feel pain. You keep Nyquil in case you get a cold. You keep Neosporin and bandaids in case of injury. Behind the fear of injury is something bigger: fear of infection, illness and death.

 

 

Fear of death motivates you to do many things. It makes you afraid to go into hospitals and nursing homes, even doctors’ offices where you could see sick or crazy people. This renders you of course completely unable to help any of these people, and makes you no more well than any of them.  Fear keeps you weak. Because of your fear, you are unable to really listen to them.  Everything they say only confirms your deep belief that these are places to be avoided.

 

If you had no fear of death, could any place scare you?

 

Think about how radically different life would be if you had no fear of death, if you knew it was no more than taking a step into another room.

 

In my Father’s house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.   John, 14:2

Would you always stay in the same place out of fear? Every fear in fact is the fear of death. All unease can be traced to that.  So to lose one’s fear of death would be to lose all fears.

Who would not want this?

 

How would life be once you had lost all fear of death? You would know that every moment is eternal, part of God’s creation.  Knowing that every moment would go on forever,  you would want to consciously and joyfully participate in each moment, noticing everything wonderful, inspiring, beautiful, quiet and peaceful, enjoying, giving thanks. Who would not want to live tucked under Life’s wing, ever with her, the great mother hen whose heartbeat comforts us eternally?

 

You can practice letting go your fears one by one, like a hoarder hating to give up one iota of junk. Or you can let them all go together, a murder of crows.

 

 

How free would you be if fear could no longer motivate you? What if you remained quiet in the face of fear and observed how quickly it crumbled to bits? When someone else at work did something that you couldn’t do, you wouldn’t have to remind yourself how wonderful and valuable you really are; you wouldn’t have to rationalize that what he did wasn’t that great. You wouldn’t have to feel inferior, worthless or devalued at all.

 

I want to be real

 

You would be unable to fear they would discover your lack of value, that you would lose your source of protection, your job with its ego and money rewards. That couldn’t happen, since your source of protection is always with you. You are in its heartbeat. You would know  your every need was answered before you could think of it.

 

 

Every jealousy would melt like wax before a flame. Jealousy is only an expression of fear. You are jealous of someone because you think they have what really belongs to you. But if you knew your every need was anticipated and abundantly filled, what would you have to be jealous of?

 

 

Fear is behind every attempt to control the outcome.  You fear bad grades for your kids because it means they won’t get into a good school, will drop out, do drugs, or whatever other meaning you give to bad grades. So you try to control the outcome, rewarding, punishing, worrying, helping your kids too much, and sensing unfairness all around them.

How would a parent with no fears look? That would be a very evolved being because your children provide an intense focus for your fears that most of you can hardly let go of in this lifetime.

 

 

A parent with no fears would be interested in whatever her adult children chose to do; interested to know the reasons and see where it would go. A parent with no fears would be available to help if needed, but satisfied also not to. A parent with no fears would not project negative futures for her children.

 

Think with a new mind