Oct
2
Written by:
host
10/2/2009 7:00 AM
The stack of books sitting next to me have something in common: they all are, in one way or another, about fear. I didn't intend to put together a collection of books on that topic; perhaps my selections say something about the current state of my psyche, or perhaps it's just the ethos of our times that has given rise to these books. In either case, here's a peek at some of what I'm reading or browsing...
On the top of the stack: Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain. These two founders of Google have been causing fear in the minds of anyone who is steeped in traditional advertising, publishing, or marketing. Next: Life Is Friends. This one's about the "lost art of connecting in person," and is filled with tips for overcoming shyness, phobia about having guests over, and so on. Then there's Will I See My Dog in Heaven?, a Franciscan answer to a common fear-based question in the hearts of animal lovers everywhere. Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions and the Plot to End the World is dripping with fear on just about every page, I suspect. A book that hopes to dispel some fears is When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage. Currently on the bottom of the stack is Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell, an exploration of the evolution of fear-based religion and how we can move beyond it. (A review of this one will be forthcoming next Thursday.)
One of the great spiritual progressives of the last few decades, William Sloane Coffin, often spoke powerfully about fear. In his book, The Heart is a Little to the Left, he writes, "The opposite of love is not hatred but fear. 'Perfect love casts out fear.' Nothing scares me like scared people; for while love seeks the truth, fear seeks safety, the safety so frequently found in dogmatic certainty, in pitiless interolerance." (p. 30)
That verse he quotes from 1 John 4:18 has been on my mind a lot lately, given the fear I see in the eyes of so many people in my community because of the economy. Likewise, the dogmatism and intolerance I've heard everywhere from the media to church sermons has been ringing in my ears. But perfect love? Is that a possibility, when some days it seems barely possible to love those who are closest to us? The context of that verse seems to me to indicate it is, but reassuringly reminds me that being perfected in love is a process, that it is God's action when God abides in us.
Churches in my own community, and likely in yours, that preach a fear-based gospel are growing, while many spiritually progressive congregations are stagnant or in decline. I am convinced that's largely because we haven't done a very good job of loudly, boldly, and publicly telling (and living out) our "unsafe" message of perfect love. A community of faith that seeks to love perfectly is a powerful and magnetic force...and it begins with you. So, go cast out some fear somewhere. You won't have to look very far to find it, and I promise you that God's perfect love is an abundant well from which to draw!
~ by Tim Gossett