I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear’s path, and only I will remain.
~ From Frank Herbert’s, Dune and the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.
But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, My friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
~ The Oracle Isaiah, in Chapter 41
Oh beloved, it is true. There is the one thing for us that is both, most vital, and completely impossible for us to do. We were made for for vital relationship with G_d. Yet we, in our brokenness and unwillingness to both believe and live in the truth, do cut ourselves off from the only thing that can keep us alive.
We need to be filled to live. We are – as the Chinese have long said: “steam powered.” The only way that a human being can move in strength is to gain that strength from an external power source. And then, upon connecting to the source, we are to allow this “xi” to flow through us in productive ways.
As believers know, the source of our strength is not just some mystical energy. It is, rather, the very Person of The Holy Spirit working in and through our lives. As we allow it, this Spirit turns our focus away from the very thing we were trying to fill on our own (ourselves) and pushes our focus away from ourselves and both up towards Him, and out towards, other people.
There is, however, one force in the universe that can block the flow of His strength in us and through us. It is the force created by the focus of us, onto ourselves. The axiom that “fear being where one is looking,” gives us great insight into this problem. When our focus is turned in on ourselves it is almost like we create some sort of feedback loop that amplifies the lies and pain and anxiety that fear breeds.
And once we fall into this kind of loop, we are truly in trouble. We need to be rescued or we are going to die. We may have unwittingly put ourselves into the mess, but the longer we choose to look at our self – and all the problems that go along with self – the deeper we are going to fall into a very dangerous pit.
There is only one way away from fear.
Repentance.
Repentance is the complete changing of our minds. It is the reversal of the direction of a train of thought. It is the abandonment of a line of thinking that we might pursue something completely other. And without this radical redirection of thinking, we are doomed to stay in a loop in which there is no need to stay. But the changing of the mind is not just along a single thread. The soul is massively multithreaded. Mega themes breakdown into a broad spectrum of mindset from which we must turn to be free.
Self must turn outward towards Him and others.
Past must be forgotten and attention set on the upward call of G_d in Christ Jesus.
Pain must be surrendered at the foot of the Cross to be smashed away.
Sin must be reckoned as something to which we are dead.
Life (ours) must be reckoned over, that His might reign in us.
Failure must seen as part of the process of success.
Shame must be smashed on the anvil of His Grace and forgiveness.
Self-confidence must be laughed out of the building.
Flesh must be reckoned dead and Spirit must become the Law of Life and Peace.
However, all of this is not impossible. It is, in fact, completely within the reach of any person willing to consider the truth. The problem is, that in our pride, we resist the notion that real freedom and power comes from the decimation of our ego – rather than the feeding of the same.
Can we see it? The fear, as usual, is not real. Our selfish little selves scream and cry and moan that they are not getting what they want. Like some little child who thinks they know everything, our flesh will scream at the propriety of allowing it to live. However, once we really see this for the foolishness it is, we can simply quit giving credence to it like we quit listening to a whining and foolish child.
And then, we look to where the real Power is. Him.
Fear not beloved. Are you struggling to get away from some thread or theme in your life that seems to be holding you back? There is no need to fear, or listen to the lie that you must stay in the problem forever. All that is required is a radical change of the mind.
He is The Truth and He will set you free. Tonight is your night. Time to look away from the problems – and fix your eyes on the Solution.
There is, however, one force in the universe that can block the flow of His strength in us and through us. It is the force created by the focus of us, onto ourselves. The axiom that “fear being where one is looking,” gives us great insight into this problem. When our focus is turned in on ourselves it is almost like we create some sort of feedback loop that amplifies the lies and pain and anxiety that fear breeds.
And once we fall into this kind of loop, we are truly in trouble. We need to be rescued or we are going to die. We may have unwittingly put ourselves into the mess, but the longer we choose to look at our self – and all the problems that go along with self – the deeper we are going to fall into a very dangerous pit.
There is only one way away from fear.
Repentance.
Repentance is the complete changing of our minds. It is the reversal of the direction of a train of thought. It is the abandonment of a line of thinking that we might pursue something completely other. And without this radical redirection of thinking, we are doomed to stay in a loop in which there is no need to stay. But the changing of the mind is not just along a single thread. The soul is massively multithreaded. Mega themes breakdown into a broad spectrum of mindset from which we must turn to be free.
Self must turn outward towards Him and others.
Past must be forgotten and attention set on the upward call of G_d in Christ Jesus.
Pain must be surrendered at the foot of the Cross to be smashed away.
Sin must be reckoned as something to which we are dead.
Life (ours) must be reckoned over, that His might reign in us.
Failure must seen as part of the process of success.
Shame must be smashed on the anvil of His Grace and forgiveness.
Self-confidence must be laughed out of the building.
Flesh must be reckoned dead and Spirit must become the Law of Life and Peace.
However, all of this is not impossible. It is, in fact, completely within the reach of any person willing to consider the truth. The problem is, that in our pride, we resist the notion that real freedom and power comes from the decimation of our ego – rather than the feeding of the same.
Can we see it? The fear, as usual, is not real. Our selfish little selves scream and cry and moan that they are not getting what they want. Like some little child who thinks they know everything, our flesh will scream at the propriety of allowing it to live. However, once we really see this for the foolishness it is, we can simply quit giving credence to it like we quit listening to a whining and foolish child.
And then, we look to where the real Power is. Him.
Fear not beloved. Are you struggling to get away from some thread or theme in your life that seems to be holding you back? There is no need to fear, or listen to the lie that you must stay in the problem forever. All that is required is a radical change of the mind.
He is The Truth and He will set you free. Tonight is your night. Time to look away from the problems – and fix your eyes on the Solution.
And all is well, tho faith and form
Be sundered in the night of fear;
Well roars the storm to those that hear
A deeper voice across the storm.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
