Fear. The word that has become the definition and the driver behind much of our human experience. For some, it plays just a small part in the show. Quiet and relatively unassuming, but none-the-less always there, waiting to take center-stage. For others, it’s the great director, the master of puppets, the maestro of the symphony. At one point or another, we all find ourselves caught up in obsessing over the endless outcomes of a situation, relentlessly propelled by this thing we call fear. However fear shows up for you in your life, it doesn’t matter, the key to finding freedom from it, will be the same.
First let’s talk about this thing we call fear. What is it? From a spiritual perspective, fear is simply the opposite of love, the absence of faith, the shadow. But what does it look like from a human perspective? When we see it though these eyes, fear is a bit illusive. It appears to be our friend. A necessary evil even. It would be what we perceive as a protector; it keeps us safe and drives us. However looking deeper, it’s easy to see the holes in this perception. Fear of lack or being unsuccessful, might drive someone to work endlessly and tirelessly so that he may be abundant and secure. Undoubtedly, he will never obtain the true security he seeks, which could potentially lead to other fears about purpose and value. Fear of sickness or disease might drive someone to stay sheltered, remain isolated, even shun others he doesn’t understand. In many cases, the fear of sickness or disease, actually creates sickness in one’s human experience. This person may begin to manifest fears of vulnerability, and ultimately, death. Fear of abandonment might drive someone to seek constant reassurance and acceptance from others around him. For this person, this fear can spiral into fears of not being lovable, smart enough, beautiful enough, successful enough etc., etc.. As you can see, the perceived driver and protector has become a bottomless pit of distraction from the truth of who we really are. One can waste an entire lifetime in the illusion of fear and the beliefs formed around it.
In all its endless forms, fear is basically the minds manifestation of that which it cannot control. Lack of control, total powerlessness — this is fear and THIS is where the paradox is revealed. For that which we cannot control, the thing of which we are most afraid, the unexpected, the yet to be created.. that’s where we will find the ONLY THING that can ever free us. It is there, you will find the unknown.
Just the very word sparks fear. Why do you think that is? It’s because it is the very thing that is the revealer of our infinite truth. It is the revealer of the falsity of our minds definition of reality. If we let ourselves accept the truth of the unknown, we will free ourselves from the realties fear creates. It is in the unknown that we will find the power of Spirit from which we are made, and from which we will all return. It is in the unknown that we will find the beauty of the nothingness from which all things are created. The mind can never grasp the infinite because for all its magnificence, it is still finite. It simply cannot understand or accept the hugeness and beauty in the yet-to-be created, in the unknown.
There is nothing wrong with the mind and the purpose it serves. From a human form, evolutionary standpoint it makes sense, it has served us well and continues to serve great purpose, but we have forgotten that our mind and its beliefs are not who we actually are. The possibilities of life’s outcomes are not really what our Being is concerned about, yet it is what we spend most of our time on earth focused on. We allow our minds need for self-preservation to distract us, as we tirelessly prepare for a future that will never come. This tireless preparation becomes our identity. And in that tireless preparation, fear is born and so we find the paradox.
I find it beautiful that the answer is in the cause. It reveals the perfect geometry of our existence. It is shown to us most places we look. Nature shows us the cure to disease, right next to the plant that would kill us, or sometimes in the very plant itself. In our literature we have told the same story over and over.. no matter how far away we travel, the answer is always within. It is a theme that we have come to trust.
So it is in this trust, that we trudge down the windy road of this great adventure we call life. We make a truce with our minds to keep us safe, but set us free to journey into the great beautiful abyss of the unknown. And if we become afraid, we will look right into the very fear that is in front of us, and walk through it to the freedom that awaits us on the other side.
Written with love by:
Alana Whitelaw-Lawrence CHLC 💛