September 17

“Sometimes in our fear of lack we forget our plenty, or our believing that only one other person or thing is our only source of what we believe we need, we may become dependent upon that particular person or thing and lose sight of the real Source.”  Sylvia Messner, 1980, Daily Readings from Quaker Writings, 9/12

Fear is a powerful force.  I liken it to a bomb blast that you survive, but blinds you.  The horrendous sound deafens you.  The shock wave knocks you off your feet. Fear, then, is actually the aftermath.  If a bomb hits you directly, it’s over for you in that second.  In our day-to-day lives we can be too busy getting our needs met to notice our lack.  It’s in those quiet moments that we notice our neediness and become fearful.  They say that is what’s behind workaholism.  We keep ourselves super busy so that we don’t have to deal with that fear.  That’s why people like that can appear to be quite happy, but are slowly dying on the inside.  On the other hand, there are people who ARE quite happy in their busyness.  That’s because they are “busy in the Lord”.  They’re dependent on the real Source for their needs and they’ve been given meaningful work to do that not only satisfies their physical needs but also their spiritual needs.  When these two needs are met is when I believe our emotional and mental needs are then met.  When we try to meet our emotional and mental needs first, we will always go to the wrong Source.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.”  1 John 4:18