Reflection
This is a time for courage. In the midst of all that has been battering our psychic peace, we need to express our fear of the unpredictable and share our feelings of insecurity. The fear and anger we see striking out is real. Often, the root of division is ignorance. People huddle in uniform groups and rail against others without basic information or real understanding. Biases feed mistrust, coalesce grievances, and lead to dangerous action. To deal with what is now a major national problem is a daunting project. The face of hostility is frightening and summons all our strength. To respond at our individual level has its own tensions, but each of us can only try. We can hold to truth. An honest sharing of our concerns with others, an open listening to one another, and a desire to work together for clarity might begin to cut through the divisive misinformation that so corrosive. We are each called to be well informed, to summon all our courage and, when possible, to speak with compassionate truth and conviction. If we hope to weaken this destructive spiral, our own lives must be lived, as best we can, with integrity and consistent with reality .
Prayer
Be not afraid.
Action
Change begins with the individual. To start the healing in your sphere of influence how can you start to verbalize your fears and listen to those of others? How honest are you in living truth in the midst of the alternate realities and fears that are so easily spread? Are there concrete actions you can take?
Suggested Reading
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27
Fear is such a powerful emotion for humans that when we allow it to take us over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.
St. Catherine of Siena
In a free society, some are guilty and all are responsible.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
We live in a time when the greatest form of courage is to act as if our lives made a difference.
William Sullivan
We become fearful of one another when our loving nature is blocked. Ignorance is at the root of all bigotry and injustice.
Kevin Ryerson
The process of transforming fear isn’t pretending that we have no fear, but embracing fear as a tool for learning and growth.
Kay Gilley
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
Anais Nin
Courage is a willingness to act from the heart, to let your heart lead the way, not knowing what will be required of you next, and if you can do it.
Jean Shinoda Bolen
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela