Show the Way - Verse 1

Comments springing from an earlier post:  

You say you see no hope, 

You say you see no reason we should dream 

that the world would ever change

You're saying love is foolish to believe

'Cause there'll always be some crazy with an army or a knife

To wake you from your daydream; put the fear back in your life...

Verse 1 of David Wilcox’s song, “Show the Way”

What a line: “. . . To wake you from your daydream; put the fear back in your life.” 

Fear can be debilitating. Period. It can paralyze even the best of us. 

Fear wakes us from dreams and washes us in doubts.

When I think about David’s song, “Show the Way,” I think about these companion quotes that speak to fear and worry:

“Social science researchers say we are the most worried culture that has ever lived.  Life expectancy has more than doubled in the past century.  We are able to cure more diseases than ever before.  No group of human beings has ever been healthier, yet no group has ever been more worried about their health.  We keep reading articles about how sick we are.” (John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat).

“The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.” (Thomas Merton)

“But of course if we do value [material wealth] as normal people seem to think we should, our fate is fixed.  Our fate is anxiety. It is worry. It is frustration. The words anxious and worry both have reference to strangling or being choked.  Certainly that is how we feel when we are anxious.  Things and events have us by the throat and seem to be cutting off our life.  We are being harmed, or we fear what will come upon us, and all our efforts are insufficient to do anything about it.” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy)

Fear has our culture by the throat, and therefore, has us also in its talons. It “seems to be cutting off our life,” as Willard says above. I see Facebook posts and emails every single day that are primarily fear-based—even if couched in political or religious language. Fear is often used as the motivator to get people to do something (or not do something).

So. . . what are we to do about this fear?

If I weren’t fearful of not getting enough sleep I’d answer this right now. :)