This month Nancy has an article in Natural Awakenings Magazine titled: “A Path to True Insight.”
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. . .
The media is filled with frightening information. The economy is tanking. Social security is threatened. Jobs are not being created at the rate we need, and our leaders seem to be dysfunctional. It is easy to become frightened. Fear is uncomfortable. And, with the amount of fearful events reported every day an underlying fearful state of being seems normal. “Be frightened about your money, your health, your family,” seems to be the constant mantra of the news and advertising media.
To recognize that we are experiencing fear is to know that we are walking “through a valley of dangerous shadows” and this is the first step – the beginning of wisdom.
While it is not possible to just stop being frightened, it is possible to stop being frightened of fear. After all, it is just a very uncomfortable feeling – not the real stuff of life.
. . . I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
Who or what is the “Thou” that is “with me” and not frightened of fear or evil?
Thou preparest a table before me in the midst of mine enemies.
Fear, the emotional and physiological reaction to being threatened, is the “enemy,” as living a frightened life is self-destructive. When frightened we cannot be aware of the “table of good” laid before us. We cannot see the “green pastures” we are being led to.
It is not panic that will safely guide us through difficult situations – it is creative inspiration that flows from Thou into us, just as the river feeds the trees.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This capacity to see real choices, to know the difference between what is fearful and what is good is wisdom – the real stuff of life.
Filed under: Helpful Ideas | Tagged: 23rd psalm, economics, fear, metapsychiatry, Spiritual | 4 Comments »
