FEAR FREE

Hi There !


As a six year old I had a recurrent "bad dream."

In the dead of night I could sense

the Boogieman slowly coming up

the basement steps to get me.

I filled with fear.

He continued up to the second floor.

My heart was beating wildly.

I was in danger and powerless.

The Boogieman stood at the foot of my bed.

With hypnotic power

he drew me down to the basement

and then tickled me for

a horrendously long time.

I hated it.

Then I would awake  terrified,

with my heart still  beating wildly.

My Mom listened and cared

as I shared my dreadful fear.

She said that the Boogieman wasn't real,

so he couldn't really hurt me.

That did it.

I decided what to do.

The next time this "bad dream" started,

in my dream I jumped out of bed,

scared almost to death,

and raced down the stairs

 right to the basement

and the Boogieman

.Arms on my hips,

I stared right at that Boogieman and said,

 "You can't hurt me

 because you aren't real !!!"

The Boogieman vanished.

I never had that "bad dream " again.

Ever since I was six years old

I have faced fear and refuse

to be immobilized by it.




 I share this

very personal experience

of dealing with fear because

today there is an epidemic of

fear and anxiety among us.

It strangles the spiritual life.

It causes a reactive withdrawal,

it immobilizes so much of our spirit.



There is a lot to fear today for sure.

That we cannot control.

It's there.

What we can do, though,

is address how we deal

with our fear and anxiety.



In so many ways

our social fabric is shredding.

The edges come undone.

Boundaries contain,

but they also protect.

Their undoing causes fear and anxiety.



Family life is destabilized.

Divorce and remarriage

multiply not so much blended

as forced together tries at family

that in all honesty

often really don't qualify.

With or without marriage involved,

One third of American children,

15 million of them,

are being raised without a father.

Nearly 5 million are being raised without a mother.

( LifeSite News.com - based on the census )

Lots of couples live together

but don't end up staying together.

What bonding holds?

A lot of religion is discredited and discarded.

Too many politicians and government leaders

are a bad mix of playground bullies

and drunken college boys having a mud fight.

It's scary.

What can you count on?

Where are reliable boundaries

to hold things together?

It's frightening.

It's fearful.



There's more, and it's worse.

The biggest and "baddist" Boogieman

is the fear that the world will end,

and maybe soon.

No, I don't march around

midtown Manhattan

wearing sandwich boards front and back

proclaiming that the world will end

on March 45th. at 15:22 PM.




Two illustrations of this fear

that the world may end

pretty much show what is this

 just below the surface,

this down in the basement

of our consciousness,

 Boogieman.




First:
 
MSN recently posted a political cartoon

showing an elevator

with words about

nuclear destruction over the doors.

Two little boys trying

to outrun each other were shouting,

"I want to push the button!!"

The little boys were

Kim Jong-un and Donald J. Trump.

The cartoon wasn't even close to funny,

but way to close for comfort.

Talk about boundaries and edges coming undone,

to say nothing of all and everything

coming undone.

Possible.

Probable?

Fearful for sure!




Second:

Stephen Hawkins is one of

the most respected scientist in the world.

He is a theoretical physicist

and cosmologist at Cambridge University.

He says what holds things together

is not going to hold things together much longer.

Hawkins maintains that our planet has

"reached the point of no return."

( Wired.co.uk )

and that

"If we do not find another planet to live on,

climate change, over population, pandemics

and our warring ways will end us."

( BBC "Expedition New Earth ) .

That's enough to make you wet the bed at night.



Threats abound,

the worst in the history

of our planet and our people.

Avoided, they destabilize and immobilize

our spirits and our society.

How do we go down into the basement

 and  confront the Boogieman?



First off, we need to see that these horrors

are on the surface of our immediate experience.

We and all creation are founded,

based in our very being in the

 Energy of the Cosmos and More Beyond Limit.

It has many names:

Existence, Reality, Being, God.

It's not going away nor are we.

We may make ourselves and others suffer,

even destroy society and Mother Earth

in their present forms,

but Existence, Reality, Being, God

          ARE

and that includes us.

The ancient Israelites got that

and relied on that in all their troubles:

"...do not fear

for I am with you,

do not be afraid,

for I am your God;

I will strengthen you,

I will help you,

I will uphold you

with my victorious hand."

                ( Isaiah 41:19 )



Jesus scoped out the scene:

" I am sending you out

like sheep in the midst of wolves.

Be wise as a serpent

and guileless as a dove."

( Matthew 10:10 )

That was so

a lot of yesterdays ago.

It's so today.

In other words,

be street smart, soul simple,

and just keep going.

More than any other words

Jesus used in the Gospels are

have to do with "Fear not."

A few examples.

"Fear not little flock

for it is your Father's good pleasure

to give you the kingdom."

              ( Luke 12: 32 )

"Do not fear,

only believe."

              ( Mark 5:36 )

"So do not be afraid.

You are of more value

than many sparrows."

              ( Matthew 10:31 0

"Peace I leave you;

my peace I give you...

Do not let your hearts be troubled,

and do not let them be afraid."

                ( John 14:27 )  




We have next to no control over

the evil powers of this world

           - the wolves.

We are empowered in Jesus

to be free from fear,

            - guileless.

We can face down 

The Boogieman of Fear knowing

it isn't the real deal,

it isn't the last word.as we say,

"You can't hurt me, because you aren't real."

So freed, we can live

in the midst of mess

deeply, fully, responsibly, spiritually

         FEAR FREE.




The Christian scriptures end

with the admission of  human trouble

and the assurance of  divine integration:

   "Then I saw a new heaven

     and a new earth:

     for the first heaven

     and the first earth had passed away,

     and the sea was no more.

     And I saw the holy city,

      the new Jerusalem,

      coming down out of heaven from God,

      prepared as a bride

      adorned for her husband.

      And I head a loud voice

      from the throne saying,

      'See, the home of God

      is among mortals.

      He will dwell with them

      as their God;

      they will be his peoples,

      and God himself

      will be with them;

       he will wipe away

       every tear from their eyes.

      Death will be no more;

      mourning and crying and pain

      will be no more,

     for the first things have passed away.'

     And the one seated on the throne said,

     ' See, I am making all thing new.' "

                        ( Revelation 21: 1- 5 )


 Bye, bye Boogieman!!!

  

     .
Prosper!

See you next week.

In God's Dear Love,

    John Frank