Article January 26, 1987 Issue

Freedom from phobias

What stops fear from taking charge in our lives? Divine intelligence gives us the spiritual strength to resist fear and heal it.

Guy Halferty

The interview had gone well. I had applied for a position as a magazine editor, and my new employer had told me the job was mine. As she escorted me toward the elevator, she suddenly changed our direction, saying, "Before you leave, let me show you your office." We walked through a door. She led the way to an old-fashioned floor-to-ceiling window; and there, next to the open window with its low sill, eight stories above the street, was my desk.

I panicked. For a long time I had suffered from an acute fear of heights, but I had never expected I would have any difficulty with it in the quiet world of editing. Here I was with the new job that I so badly needed, and now this.

I managed to disengage, with my employer's last cheery words ringing in my ears: "See you first thing Monday morning!" All the way home I was in a terrible state. Of course, I told myself, the job is out. I couldn't possibly work at a desk beside an open window eight stories up—and with a low sill, to make matters even worse. I'd be so consumed with fear that I'd never be able to concentrate on the job.

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