Yesterday, I was reading a recent article in Atlantic Monthly that was addressing the problems facing America as states begin to reopen the economy. The article is a call to increase testing, which is a subject beyond our spiritual focus in this post. However, there was one sentence that leaped out at me, "Survey data show that the economic turmoil is driven not primarily by government shelter-in-place policies but by Americans' fear that going outside will result in illness. Fear.
Shelter-in-Place, when looked at spiritually, involves more than fear. We can remind ourselves that beyond our inborn instincts for self protection, in this global danger, self protection cannot be separated from the charge to protect others--it is a mutual and reciprocal protection. Fear for the well-being of those that we are attached to, our personal unit of relationships is also instinctual. But life is far more than our limited personal hub of connections. The wholeness and oneness of life, the All, is at the core of our spiritual focus through the Pandemic. Realistically, as human beings we are limited in our capacity to grasp that Allness. And as individual human beings, we are limited in are ability to care for everyone, everything, at all times, and especially in a time of universal upheaval. When we ourselves are seriously ill, all our energy is channelled into caring for our health and then moves outward as we begin to regain strength. In the same way when some aspect of our relationship unit is threatened, our care and actions are directed there. But the Pandemic has given us an extraordinary influence on the well-being of thousands, on a real physical level, by participating in public health, both at home and as we leave our homes.
Along with the physical level, we impact the whole by attending to the whole, through prayer, through acquiring understanding, through forgiveness, and creativity in the offering of positive possibilities.
I will take a deeper look at fear during this week, but for now I offer you these lines from the Bible, 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love castes out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love."
Fear is indeed protective. Fear stops us so that we can protect, avoid, process, evaluate, problem solve, overcome, discover love. Fear is not final, it is a step on our way. (Susan Nettleton)