The Problem with Fear

It would be silly to ask that you not be afraid.

Fear is an emotion, a response to stimulus. Actual events as well as things that go bump in the night trigger fear, and honestly, it is unwise not to pause and pay attention when fear plucks those banshee strings inside our brain. So by all means, register your fear in this moment, but also realize that fear is disempowering.

Neo-Nazis; unrepentant racists, homophobes, and misogynists; dark angels of greed and the concentration of wealth disguised as concerned leaders and politicians; militarists and ultra-nationalists; these are all fringe elements of the society that should rightly evoke a vein of caution if not fear within us. But please, do not linger on the fear.

Fear makes us quake and shiver, worry and fret but does nothing to allow us to stand up, fill our chest with a full sail of breath, and walk forward.

There are more of us than there are of them, by a considerable measure – far more than the vote totals tell. The fearsome people full of hate and merciless bigotry are not many; they are only riding a wave of opportunity, a parasite of the less-rightwing. So stand up, act, as you are able, and hold hands with others as we both resist and push back the polluted tide that unexpectedly washed the shore.

Remember, fear is disempowering and conversely, action empowers. It is not yet clear what actions need and must be taken but they will appear an we will know. There will be millions of others who will act with us. Do not allow the uncertainty and unknowing of the present moment to inflate your fear, and instead, share with others your bright hopes for the future as you imagined and saw them even just a year ago. Allow those hopes to light the way forward as we await the time of action.

In peace,
subversivepreacher