Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion- On Fear

Dear Friends,

      Fear, it grips you, weakens you, it can leave you paralyzed, fear is selfish, bullies use fear and it’s intimidation to instill weakness and shame, creating deceit. Bullies come in many guises; the big guy on the playground using his size to intimidate the smaller students. The boss, who uses power of authority to take advantage of employees who succumb to their demands while fearing loss of their jobs, blackmailers demanding payment while threatening to release embarrassing information. Governments, rattling their sabers and using the fear of war to gain control of military or monetary power, bullies are found everywhere; marriage, politics, sports, business, on the street, in the home, the playground, and on the internet.

       Fear can push people, individuals and large groups, to stop trying, to run, to hide, to give up on life itself, how do we defend against bullies and fear? How do we put an end to it? Education, understanding, and love; we need to educate what fear really is. Some people are afraid of water, perhaps learning to swim, understanding that, learning to respect and look for the good water supplies us is a good start. Further, understand that bullies use fear to hide their own weaknesses, how often does a bully back down when someone who understands their weakness stands up to them, shows the world their weakness.

       Perhaps we should try love. Love caresses you, strengthens you, love is selfless, when you love life there are no boundaries. Love gives courage giving life meaning and purpose, love is honest.

       Maybe what we need in this world is more love the Bible says to be “Gentle as a dove, wise as a serpent.” We are born innocent and without fear, we learn so much in our formative years by living, we learn to eat, to crawl, walk, speak, understand, and love. Things like fear and hate sadly are also learned. We must know and teach how to know the things of fear, the ways of the serpent and not succumb to them, to remain the dove. With love comes great responsibility, to be strong and honest, to respect and protect that which we love, to learn by the mistakes that have been made and understand what happened, this is knowledge. Then to take that knowledge and teach other, share what has been learned, that is wisdom.