| QUOTE |
| All these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness in its own right. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 49 Fear knocked at the door; faith answered; no one was there. I dont know to whom this quote should be attributed, but it certainly indicates clearly that fear is an illusion. I create the illusion myself. I experienced fear early in my life and I mistakenly thought that the mere presence of it made me a coward. I didnt know that one of the definitions of courage is the willingness to do the right thing in spite of fear. Courage, then, is not necessarily the absence of fear. During the times I didnt have love in my life I most assuredly had fear. To fear God is to be afraid of joy. In looking back, I realize that, during the times I feared God most, there was no joy in my life. As I learned not to fear God, I also learned to experience joy. |
For those of you not familiar with the Daily Reflections, each month the topic for the month is a particular step. This is April, so the focus is on the 4th Step of Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and The Principle of Courage. I was talking with someone about 'fear' yesterday--and how some of it is healthy--and how we respond to it. The ability to "do the next right thing" is not always an easy thing, especially at first because I was in fear of everything--and the walls around me that I'd built to protect eventually had become so tall that the "Sunlight of the Spirit" was unable to shine through. The more I work with The Principles, the more light comes in and the less fear I have.
The whole contradiction-thingy really blows me away. The dichotomy of The Program, seriously, I find curiouser and curiouser every day.
:)
