We continue to address ourselves to facing fear - by the way....taxes are due today.
...we can master fear through one of the supreme virtues known to man: courage...
Courage...is the power of the mind to overcome fear. Unlike anxiety, fear has a definite object which may be faced, analyzed, attacked, and if need be, endured. How often the object of our fear is fear itself!... Courage takes the fear produced by a definite object into itself and thereby conquers the fear involved. Paul Tillich has written, "Courage is self-affirmation "in spite of...that which tends to hinder the self from affirming itself." It is self-affirmation in spite of death and non being, and he who is courageous takes the fear of death into his self-affirmation and acts upon it. This courageous self-affirmation, which is surely a remedy for fear, is not selfishness, for self-affirmation includes both a proper self-love and a properly propositioned love of others.
From the first time I read some of Tillich's work, he has been one that has helped me to come to some understanding of the power of love. Love is a courageous endeavor. As we are called to reunited that which is separated (act in love) we are not merely about the healing and care of the self, we are about the healing of the world. King captures that balance between love of self and love of others. It is within that vision of life that we not only stand up to that which we fear, we also are engaged in the process of honoring the other that is attempting to frighten or destroy us. Within the Reign of God, we do not merely must up courage in order to defeat the other side. That is the old game that keeps fear in power. Rather, courage is that power to bring peace by honoring the life in the other as we honor and uphold our lives. Courage in the life of MLK was a journey of vulnerability in pursuit of justice for all. Within God's Reign we are called to face our enemies and love them. That is no whimsical dream. That is the power of courageous living that knows of a power for life that cannot be ruled by fearing others.
Connection: This is no fantasy. MLK is writing about a daily discipline that needs constant attention. Again, this is why a community of saints is vital to building a compassionate and courageous life.
When your rule of Shalom rains down upon us, O God, we are living within the possibility of the transformation of all things. You call us to be agents of your love and that love continues to stir up our hearts so that we will courageously live within your Reign even now. Amen.
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