The Burden of Fear

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. (Jn 4:18) John Tauler, OP, writes Be sure that if you do lack this sign, namely, confidence in love’s final rescue of your distressed soul – then all other signs together are deceitful. How do we deal with these words? After all, most, if not all of us, know fear.

I ponder the power of fear – and the emotions it stems from – insecurities, inability to accept oneself – lack of courage – trust – foresight. And then I delve into Olivier Clément’s book “On Being Human” and read Then we discover the basic truth about ourselves, that we are loved, and it is because we are loved that we exist. Here is the cure of our fear. Love is what allows us to trust and have courage and not to fear.

And yet this does not seem a satisfactory answer. It seems, as I read the Gospels, that just the fact that I come to Jesus results in fearful events: The Magi were told to go back to their homeland by another route, because of fear of Herod; Mary and Joseph were told to take the Child in the night and flee into Egypt, because Herod meant them harm. In our own lives, we know that giving ourselves over to Jesus does not result in greater joy so much as in greater challenges. Often spiritual writers conclude this is because Jesus requires suffering of us in order for us to be His disciples. But I don’t agree. I think giving our lives over to Jesus means – stripping off what is false, what is pretense, what is only a shell. What we find or experience is not something new – it is something that has always been there – something hidden come to light -- something we could not or would not see.

In his letter to the Order, Father Carlos, OP, writes: study opened Dominic’s eyes to what many others had not seen or did not want to see. Our first real glimpse of ourselves is quite frightening – and we will suffer shock until we come to accept our own reality. Our goal is to realize that God has already loved us while knowing all these things.