Article August 30, 1999 Issue

Fear not, little flop

Place full confidence in God.

Sharon S. Jeffrey

I heard a joke several years ago that I really enjoy. A young mother had just about had it one day with her two rambunctious little boys. She wound up shouting at them and sending them from the room. Then she sat down and cried, because she felt so bad about having shouted at her children. She said out loud, "Oh, dear me, I fear I must be just a 'flop' of a mother." Her little six-year-old, who had been attending Sunday School regularly, poked his head around the corner and said, "Fear not, little flop, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (See Luke 12:32.)

Many people have, at times, felt like "flops" at one thing or another, or have been afraid of failure. Fear seems to be at the root of so many things. Perhaps some people's greatest fear is the fear of a life-threatening disease. But fear itself is often the underlying cause of disease. In her autobiography, Mary Baker Eddy writes: "[Christian] Science saith to fear, 'You are the cause of all sickness; but you are a self-constituted falsity,—you are darkness, nothingness. You are without "hope, and without God in the world." You do not exist, and have no right to exist, for "perfect Love casteth out fear"'" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 61).

Fear is rooted in the belief that we can be separated from God, whose "perfect love casteth out fear" (I John 4:18). But one can no more be separated from God than a sunbeam can be separated from the sun. The mere suggestion that man, who is made in the image and likeness of God and who has "the mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16), could be made afraid, is a lie. And each of us has the God-given power and authority to reject it as such. The Bible calls evil "a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). As one remains steadfast and loyal to God, fear and its effects disappear. Also, watching one's thoughts to see where they are from, and where they are headed, helps protect one from detrimental influences. Thoughts that come from God, the divine Mind, are always good and bring good into one's life.