Article December 7, 1992 Issue

Finding freedom from fear

Fears can't grip us when we stay conscious of God's ever-present goodness.

Kathryn H. Breslauer

Most of us would like to be less afraid of various situations we encounter in life. One of my favorite stories of courage deals with John Muir, a great naturalist and conservationist.

Speaking of this extraordinary man's character, Edwin Way Teale writes in The Wilderness World of John Muir, "In this world where men are afraid they will catch cold, afraid they will lose their way, afraid they will be eaten by bears or bitten by snakes or touch poison ivy or fall over a log, John Muir, faring forth into the wilderness unarmed and alone, was the man unafraid." Mr. Teale notes that in all his travels, Muir was never harmed by a bear or rattlesnakes and never seriously injured.

John Muir observed that his father made him learn so many Bible verses every day that by the time he was eleven years old he had learned three-fourths of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament by heart! We don't have a record of his saying so, but something of the feeling of God's ever-presence and love, as told in the Bible, must have stayed with him.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

One presence, blessing us all