Article February 23, 2015 Issue

We live in Love, not fear

John Minard

I remember distinctly the night when, as a little boy, I finally confronted the monster in the closet. Well, it wasn’t a real monster, just the fear of one. For several nights I had lain awake picturing one of those scary creatures from the popular children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, creeping out of the shadowy, half-open closet at the foot of my bed.

Then, one night I decided to stand up to the fear, using the ideas I had been learning in Sunday School. I figured that because God is completely good, and He made everything that is real, then monsters don’t really exist—not even pretend ones. I knew, by this logic, there wasn’t really anything in the closet, but I was still afraid. 

Then it hit me—since there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, there was no reason for fear to continue. And I felt something wonderful: the tangible presence of God’s love all around me. I got up, went to the closet, and shut the door on that fear forever.

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