SENTINEL WATCH July 12, 2004 Issue

Slam the door on fear

By Diane Dailey

A HEADLINE IN THE BUSINESS SECTION of The New York Times read, "Calm Down. That Wolf at the Door Has Been Here Before" (May 23, 2004). The writer implied that fear is the wolf at the door in today's economy. Yet he described an optimism that is prevalent despite anxiety about financial instability in the world: rising interest rates, fluctuating oil prices, low investment yields. Somehow the economy manages to survive even when on a roller coaster of highs and lows.

It sometimes seems to me that we live today in a culture of fear. Especially when there seem to be so many wolves knocking at the door. Since September 11, 2001, the United States government has raised or lowered color–coded warnings related to the fear of terrorism. The wolves at the door also include fear of global warming, of natural disasters, of getting sick, of crime. Fear of just about everything. It's hard to get away from it.

So, what can be done about fear? Do we have a choice?

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