Article April 17, 1989 Issue

Fear—the bully we can always put down

Although at times we may feel strongly tempted to be afraid, we can choose whether we will let fear or God govern us.

Jane Partis McCarty

Almost every child has encountered a bully—someone who pushes others around and intimidates. But haven't we all heard a story about some brave person who has stood up to a bully, causing him to retreat before the authority of courage? Well, fear is like a bully.

You may be saying, "I'm afraid of things that are a lot more serious than a playground bully!" It does seem that human experience is full of events and circumstances anyone should reasonably fear—violence, poverty, disease, accident, old age, pain, death. But is there truly a reasonable, logical basis for feeling afraid?

If you think of yourself as mortal, fragile, at the mercy of a material body, you will feel afraid. But if you knew for sure that you were safe, always in God's care, would you be afraid? If you knew for sure that you were entirely spiritual, not at all material, would you be afraid? If you knew for sure that good was real and evil unreal, would you fear evil? Well, the Bible assures us that God never deserts His own—any one of us. This is because God is eternal, all-inclusive, ever-present Spirit. God, the tender Father-Mother Love, made all that really is. Everything that really exists is in God, divine Mind, always, including our true being. Man, God's own dear offspring, is spiritual, perfect, and indestructible. This, and not a flimsy mortal, is the true identity of each individual.

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Fear—the bully we can always put down

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