Fear

Storm-chasers in Oklahoma and other parts of Tornado Alley, whether they be professionals or reckless amateurs, eagerly hope they might catch a storm on video, preferably a mighty F-5 tornado, for measuring and studying its behavior as it tears across the countryside. These storm-chasers frequently spend long periods on the road, during which time a few puffs of threatening clouds often tease them for a while and then evaporate.

As with storm chasing, so it is with much of our lives--full of dangers and uncertainties. We may not be as reckless as some amateur storm-chasers are, but we do tend to be always on the lookout for--and often actually expecting--bad things to happen. Most of them, of course, like hunted tornados, never materialize.

Quite naturally, we must face some tragedies in our lives, but true Spirit-rooted trust in God has a subtle way of eclipsing the common negatives that unnecessarily clutter our lives, such as anxiety about tomorrow, fear of illness or death, hesitation in accepting a foreseen event of divine providence, or generally fear of the unknown future. Too often our human frailty entices us to seek out human ways of coping with these threats, like  installing multiple door locks. Meanwhile, our divine Counselor is urging us to rely primarily on him, with consummate trust, in the face of threats from things or persons: “Do not fear them,” says his soothing Word, “for it is the Lord your God who fights for you” (Dt 3:22).

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.