Wednesday’s thoughts
“Take Your Fear and Face It”
In thinking about the fears that we have some are obvious and some are subtle and understated. I know people who are afraid of death. They worry about what lies beyond this life. They are concerned about the pain of death and how to surivive it.
I know people who are afraid of failure. They constantly worry about how they measure up in a world that is competitive and driven by merit and rewards for success.
It was interesting to learn about Mother Teresa this week. She had this sense that her faith wasn’t strong enough. She was riddled with doubt and wondered if there was God. She was concerned that there was no God and that her faith was not adequate. It reminds me of the words that were decoded of John Wesley, the founder of our denomination. He wrote his brother Charles in code toward the end of his life telling him about how he thought he had wasted his life and that his ministry had been a sham.
What is interesting about these two giants of Christianity is the fear that lay behind their behavior. Mother Teresa and John Wesley both kept their fears a secret and did not anticipate anyone would ever learn that they were filled with self-doubt. They were worried that they would be “found out” that their lives had been a fraud.
One of the fears I hope to help us face is the fear of being found out. What we need to understand as we face that fear is that we need not fear it. We are not required to live a lie; we need not worry that we are not good enough. We are what we are, and that is sufficient.
The way to face the fear of being found out is to come to terms with who we are and to live into that our whole life.
Do you ever worry about being found out?
Do you know anyone who worries about that?
I’d appreciate your thoughts on this. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the ‘comments’ box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
I like this acronym for FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.. Sometime, though, fear is our response to something real — being chased by a mountain lion, for example. But most often, fear is the product of our thinking. Fears about being found out, being exposed for the imposters we are — fears like these have no basis in reality and yet we allow them to limit us.
One way to move through fears like these is to lighten up — to not take ourselves so seriously. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? I read recently that we all spend so many years of our lives on our “identity project” — creating and enhancing our identity. We labor under the misconception that we’re not OK, that we’re deficient somehow and that we need fixing. Once we really get that we’re OK just as we are, that we’re God’s children not stepchildren, we taste the freedom of being able to just be ourselves, with love and compassion and without fear.