"Fearproof Your Life"
Joseph Bailey
Sunday, April 27th 2008

Fear has always been a part of our lives throughout time. It is part of the human condition of the ego—a state of separation from our conscious awareness of our Divine connection. The apostles in today’s gospel are filled with fear as they anticipate Jesus’ death and leaving them alone on the earth without his support. Jesus tells them how to remove fear from their hearts.

In our modern world we live in what appears to be mounting fears of uncertainty in a world at war, threats of terrorist attacks, the real possibility of global climate change and the natural catastrophes that come with it, epidemics like AIDS, Sars, the bird flu, the current economic downturn with the falling of the dollar, the recession triggered by the sub prime mortgage crisis, foreclosures, skyrocketing costs for gas, healthcare and our basic needs. The list of fears goes on and on and our 24-hour cable news cycle, the Internet and the constant buzz of the media feeds us a steady supply of the fear de jour. Fear seems to have become an obsession, if not an addiction to the pre-occupation of the “what ifs” in facing the unknown.

On a personal level our daily worries about the welfare of our children—their safety, the world they will inherit; our relationships and the lack of time for them; our health and fears of death; our successes and our failures—all seem to rob us of the peace and joy of living in faith that all is well. We even associate caring for our loved ones and our work responsibilities, with worry, stress and anxiety—all forms of fear. We erroneously believe, if we aren’t worried are we are unaware of the real world, we aren’t good parents, we’re not responsible citizens, or hard workers.

Is it possible to be responsible and aware of the world without being fearful? Is there a way “to live in the world but not of it” as Jesus suggests? If the kingdom of God is truly within, why does it seem so out of reach to feel the “peace that passeth all understanding?” Jesus tells us it is, but how do we consciously realize this in the world today?

Most of my life I lived in fear—as a child I was anxious, had school phobia, worried about everything from homework, to being liked, succeeding in school and choosing the right career in life, to the fear of the cold war—nuclear attacks and the month reminder of the air raid siren and practicing hiding under our desks. Later my fears grew to being drafted into a war I didn’t believe in and going to Vietnam, getting into grad school so I could become a psychologist, getting married, having children and becoming successful in my career. Life seemed to be an endless string of worries—another appeared as soon as the previous one was solved or went into the background. I even worried if I wasn’t worried because maybe there was something I wasn’t seeing so I had to be constantly scanning for more fears. There was no time for inner peace.

As a psychologist I learned numerous coping mechanisms to take breaks from my fears but I was never really at peace. I had come to believe that fear, stress and anxiety were a normal, if not healthy part of a successful life. The more I studied about my own fears, the more real and justified they became. Analyzing my personality and past only confirmed the validity of my fearful life.

And yet, I knew a few people in my life whom seemed truly peaceful without being in denial, dropping out, or on drugs. They had seemed to discover how to be at peace—to live in the world but not of it. It made me want what they had and wonder how they achieved this unreachable goal for me.

In today’s gospel Jesus comforts the apostles, who like us today, were afraid of the days to come—the fears of Christ’s death and their persecution for being associated with him. At the last supper he warns them that he will be leaving them soon. He says:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled …where I am going you know the way.” Then Thomas said to him: “We do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

“In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”

Jesus continues to reveal the secret to Fearproofing our lives:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

I used to think that I had to die to experience the peace He spoke of. Now I realize He was saying we can be fully in this world, while experiencing our inner peace no matter what the conditions—the peace that passeth all understanding.

So how do we take his words in this age of anxiety—of really BIG fears and really live without fear in peace? How do we fearproof our lives? The following is a list of guidelines that may help you translate today’s gospel into your lives:

1. Realize you are not your ego—Know Thy Self! Realize that who you are is not your personality, your labels, your past, your body or even your life as you see it—you will then come to know that you are part of God—a spiritual Being. This is your true Self and not the false self of your ego. You are one in being with the Father and Christ.
2. Realize that Your Thoughts Create Your Experience Don’t Believe Everything you Think! You are not your thoughts but the thinker and the creator of your thoughts. When you identify with that power you are, you will realize that you are not your ego, but your Spirit.
3. Practice Presence—Be Aware Be the “Observer” of your moment-to-moment thinking. Realize that you are that awareness and that is your oneness with the Father not the limits of your personality. Presence is the experience of the Divine within each of us. The feeling of presence is your Divine connection. When you are connected to that presence you will feel peace, love, wisdom and compassion for others, naturally.
4. See that Fear is a Friendly Guidance System Fear is like an alarm clock to wake you up, to become conscious that you are thinking, creating your feelings, perceptions and response to the world. Our world is created from the inside out. Then and only then will you realize that the kingdom of God is within.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”