Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Uncertainties, Fears, and Monsters Under the Bed

Several years ago my bride and I were on a road trip to help my eldest daughter move into their new home. On the way we hit a deer in my little Ford Ranger ( this event was chronicled in the blog post "The Deer Slayer" November 3, 2008. Still one of my favorite posts). While we were sitting in the pitch dark of a small west Texas county highway, it reminded us both of how much light and noise we live with every day. As the night drew on and we waited for my brother to come help us, we both began to hear the rustlings and stirrings in the brush around us. I had grown up on a farm and spent most summer nights sleeping outside in the screened in porch and was aware that most of the subtle noise was probably rats or mice and not a threat. However, all these years later and with a bride who was not raised on a farm, the crunching of leaves conjured up far worse threats than a deranged mouse. While the logical mind was convinced these were harmless little night creatures, the imagination mind convinced us that it was a blood thirsty mountain lion grown tired of deer meat and looking for some nice Dallas-fed human flesh. The imagination mind is far more convincing than the logical mind and shouted down all the reasoning and legitimate objections the logical mind could make. Fear triumphed over logic.

When we stop for a moment and evaluate our lives it seems that fear of the uncertainty bullies us like a boss from our nightmares. All the logic in the world will not mitigate the fear that can creep in or slam into us unexpectedly. It seems we let the fear run unchecked in all directions and our imagination kicks in with all sorts of dire consequences. In the end it robs us of the ability to move forward with confidence and exuberance.

And this is a portion of every part of our lives. Work place hassles and uncertainties can cause us to make conservative decisions that limit the scope of possibilities. The possibility of loss or narrowed results make us even more apt to make decisions that limit and constrain us. Perhaps the fear surrounds our health or the health of a loved one. We lose the power to live according to our expectations because the world has closed in a bit. Or perhaps it is the fear of loss of friends or influence or connection or significance that drives us into a well-crafted shell to minimize loss, and like someone who lives the life of the miser because they can't imagine the losing the baubles they have instead of reaching the riches within our grasp.

Fear is a bully. Fear uses the uncertainties against us. I do not care for bullies. They rob us of the joy that our lives are supposed to be built on. As most of you know, my worldview is a fairly traditional Christian view. It has been (although the culture is changing) anathema to mention uncertainties, to vocalize fear, to speak out and say that we are afraid. My brother compiled a book called "Do Not Be Afraid" and I made contributions to that book. I think when scripture encourages us to not be afraid it is really saying, "Don't let the fear bully you." We all live with fear. We all have uncertainties, we all wonder what is scratching around outside, we all wonder about the monsters under the bed. But somewhere out there is the answer to the fear. At some point we have to live our lives like we have nothing to lose. We are the only ones who can defy the bully and live as we were intended.

Godspeed to the fearful. We are the bully beaters.
Don