The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Mark Golliher, writing for the Huffington Post, talks about the relationship between faith and fear, how religion can unwittingly stoke fear and simple ways that ordinary people can utilize faith to overcome fear.
There are many different kinds of fear, and some fear is obviously good. The fear that alerts us to real danger, focusing our energy and attention when we need it, can save our lives. But most of our fear is not like that. Most of it is unacknowledged, manufactured, manipulative — and harmful. Its source lies in social, economic and political forces that seem more powerful than we are, despite the fact that their existence depends almost entirely on the power — the fear — that we give to them. Harmful fear divides communities. It undermines our health, spiritual sensitivity, our capacity to make sound moral judgments and our faith. Rather than being a lifesaver, most of our fear makes us our own worst enemy — and a very real threat to others.
It’s not easy to perceive the extent to which our public life has become ruled by fear. At times like this, we need religion to help us discern the difference between reality and illusion, so we can move through our fear. Sadly, tragically, some churches may be an obstacle (they may reinforce our fear) rather than a help to people in need. For example, I know and believe that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10a), but it’s easy to respond to the “fear” word, rather than the sense of humble awe that this famous biblical passage is meant to instill. I know too that “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18a), but it’s easy to forget that when my thoughts are imprisoned by fear and my heart is closed to one of the genuine purposes of spiritual traditions: to free us from the fear that tries to rule our lives.
Fear has set down some deep roots in our public and private lives, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With the support of God and faith, which are not separate from courage, we can find it within ourselves to reach down and pull out the poison. We can do this by cultivating the spiritual instincts that we’ve all been given. I’m thinking of awe, love, intent, conscience, community, rest and faith. If we fail to cultivate these instincts within ourselves, then the primal fear response will take us down a road that seems safe and secure, but turns out to be a dead end. It could quite literally be a dead end for a lot of people, both our friends and neighbors, and many more that we’ve never actually met who are made in God’s image just as much as everyone else.