I have been pondering fear and its purpose. I have come to some general conclusions but of course my ideas are still under personal scrutiny. I am still putting my thoughts together but please fill free to take apart my argument. It seems that faith is the tool used to eliminate fear, both our used to obtain knowledge. I have also concluded that all new knowledge must be acquired with the tools of fear or faith. I cannot perceive any other method.
Fear is the natural response to the unknown. Fear keeps our steps short and our progression slow. Without testimony of others, this is the best response when walking into a dark room. When missing our sight, we have fear of the dark. Anything could be in front of us and we must let our faith in our other senses guide us. Our doubt in our ability to convert what we hear and feel into visual knowledge creates fear. We use touch to tip toe through. We use hearing to determine location of objects by their sounds and potential hazards. This is healthy and natural fear. Warriors spend decades perfecting their ability to work without specific senses. Once perfected, a soldier could lose his sight without fear much like an experienced blind person walking confidently through the streets. We are designed to have fear when we experience the unknown. I am not sure there is another option.
Unfortunately, fear is usually seen as a negative. I believe that there is healthy natural fear and unhealthy fear. Unhealthy or misused fear is based on lies: accepting false testimony to control others or to excuse ourselves from an action. Fear is never a lie nor is it wrong but one can choose to embrace fear as an excuse to stop other than to cautiously continue on. Fear that leads to inaction is unhealthy fear (determined to be good/bad by its fruit or by product). Healthy fear usually brings safety and success. Fear reveals what we do not understand and what we have perceived to be true. The realization of the unknown and our lack of understanding is the first step to understanding. We can experience real fear from false testimony and imaginary beings. So we must be vigilant in where we place our faith. The more we understand the less we fear. The scary part is if our faith is based on lies and false understanding then our faith is fragile and easily broken.
I believe it is possible to discover something new without fear and faith but it will quickly lead to death. Pride can cause us to deny or ignore our natural fear. After reading Blink, I am not sure if it is possible to turn off fear intentionally because our unconscious will not allow it. I have been told that several mental disorders are defined as missing appropriate fear. Maybe Nature/God gave us fear to protect us until we find faith.
To discover something new, I believe there is a natural order. Faith is accepting another’s explanation of the unknown. When one walks into a dark room our eyes are no longer needed if one can refer to the knowledge obtained by those that have already seen the room. Learning to walk without sight based on another’s description requires an ability to interpret sounds (words) into pictures. So it requires two levels of faith to eliminate fear; First faith in another’s testimony and second faith in our ability. Both require relationship and practice. If you have faith in another’s testimony and faith in oneself then the experience of discovery is met without fear. I like the Biblical definition of faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.” Faith allows the unknown to be made known. I believe that a life driven by faith will not feel fear. I acknowledge that an individual can have great faith towards specific principles and truths; and no faith in another area.
If you believe in God, then your faith would prevent any fear whatsoever. God has experienced all things and has no unknowns. If everything is understood and known, fear cannot exist. If you have fear, you must look for the weaknesses in your faith. If you claim to have no faith, then you must have fear. If you do not fear, then you must have faith. Some deny faith, because they don’t like those that claim faith and fight association. Many times the wording of the “God” question confuses us. I have restated “Do you believe in God?” to “Do you believe that Gravity is a constant in the universe?” If the answer is yes, then you have faith in gravity and your life style is affected by that belief. This also applies to all the other laws of science. If you define “God” as the defining force or author of the universe, most people will accept the term “God”. Leaving the religion argument out of it, I feel confident that gravity is under the umbrella of God’s characteristics. There for we put our faith in God/Nature to live successfully.
Why is this important? I believe that recognizing our fears helps us realize our actual faith. The failure is only when our faith leads us nowhere. Our understanding should always follow our faith. If faith is a finite object, we can max out. If we max out our faith, we can no longer learn without fear. If we can no longer learn without fear then all new information will terrify us. Some faith based religions have discouraged understanding stating that questioning faith is wrong. They typically experience an end of their faith and then start fearing all outsiders, new information, and technologies. Their refusal to understand puts them in a prison of fear isolating them from the world making them irrelevant and eventually extinct. Ignorance maybe bliss but it is also leads to a prison of irrational fear. Free your faith with understanding. Free your fears with faith. Eliminate your fears, using your faith to guide you.
Comments
Post a Comment