love not fear

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

― Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

____________________________________

What are you afraid of?

Being alone

Being unloved

Being a failure

Being a fool?

Who are you afraid of?

Spiders?

Blacks

Immigrants

ICE

Men

Women

Republicans

Democrats?

Fear is a dreadful thing

It freezes us

It makes us want to run

But at its worst, it makes us ugly people

Cruel people

Abusive people

In the name of fear we judge

We exclude

We minimize we oppress

Fear makes us small

Put fearful people together

And feed on that fear?

We know what that looks like

It looks like anger

Like brains shut down

Hearts closed

It looks like 12,000 kids incarcerated

Black men shot in their own apartments

It looks like acceptance of the unacceptable

I can be fear based

I can fail to do what I love

I can end up doing what I despise

Fear makes us small

It makes our minds small

Our hearts small

Wrap fear in the flag

And it becomes nationalism

Wrap fear with the trappings of religion

And it looks like

Followers of Jesus violating the way of Jesus

And supporting the unsupportable

Wrap fear in this soul

And it looks like a person desperately seeking acceptance

And love

And respect

And making a mess of things, and driving love away

Perfect love casts out fear

Perfect love is Sacred Presence

Come O Sacred One

Make your home in this fearful soul

Make your home in all fearful souls

May we be bound together by love

Not fear