HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR? - 3

[Guest guest]

HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR - 3

 

A group of old friends met at an informal dinner. They reminded each other of

many things that had happened in the past. Then someone raised the question:

“What was the best day of your life?”

 

A couple answered: “The beautiful April day when we get married.”

 

A woman said, “The day my child was born. O, it was a wonderful day!”

 

Someone said: “The day I was fired from my first job. It was my best and worst

day. That day made me take stock of myself and it set me on a new path that has

since led to contentment in every area of my life.”

 

And so it went on. Until finally they turned to a woman who had not spoken at

all. “What was the best day of your life?” the asked her.

 

And she answered: “The best day of my life is today. Because it is the day that

I value the most. After all, I can’t get back yesterday and I am not sure of

tomorrow. And this day is mine, to make it into whatever, I want it to be. And

because it is new, and I am alive in it, it’s the best and I thank God for it!”

 

There was a time when Kagawa served T. B. patients and himself caught

tuberculosis. Doctors examined him and felt frightened. “You will surely die in

a year,” they said to him. He was serenely indifferent. Turning to the Christ in

his heart, he said: “Lord! I shall spend each day in Thy service!”

 

Each day that Kagawa lived was spent in the service of the Lord. Days rolled

into months and months into years. Kagawa lived on, communing with his Master

who dwells in the midst of the poor and lonely. “Doctors gave me up years ago,”

he said. “It is faith in God that has kept me going. I am amazed at the strength

that comes to me when I pray and trust God.”

 

Fear is a child of unfaith. He who lives in fear does not truly believe in God,

howsoever much he may have in the name of God on his lips. The man who believes

in God is realised from the bondage of fear and egocentredness. The worst may

happen to him: he is unafraid. Misfortune may follow him as a faithful dog: he

is unafraid. Poverty and pestilence may stare him in the face: he is unafraid.

Imprisoned in a dark cell, taken to the gallows, thrown into the midst of

ferocious beasts, he is still fearless, brave, and unafraid. For he has given

himself over to an All-loving and All-wise God. No longer does he belong to

himself: he belongs to God. It is God’s sole responsibility to look after him,

to guard him against all pitfalls, to provide for him. There can be nothing

better than what God wills for him. So, in every

situation and circumstance of life, he gives praise to and glorifies the Lord

and utters the one word of gratitude, “Shukur! Shukur!”

 

Of a Sufi dervish it is said that, one day, as he took bath in a river, he was

bitten in the foot by a crocodile. Blood flowed from the heel of his foot. He

swam to the river-bank and there he sat uttering word of praise: “Shukur!

Shukur!” A man who was near was amazed at the behaviour of the holy man. To him

he said: “How is it that even though bitten by a crocodile, you still say,

Shukur? What have you to feel grateful for?” And the dervish calmly answered:

“I feel grateful to God that: I fell into the mouth of the crocodile: I did not

fall into the mouth of sin!” The dervish was a man of faith.

 

The man of faith knows that God is the controller of his destiny and the

destinies of all individuals and nations, - indeed, of the entire cosmos. The

life of every single individual is a small but very essential part of life on

Earth, and life on Earth is a small but a very essential part of the life of

the universe. All that happens anywhere in the universe is controlled by God.

And God is good and loving and wise. So the man of faith moves through life

without fear or worry or anxiety. Knowing that whatever happens is for the

best, he resists nothing. He expects nothing and rejoices in all that happens

to him. He is never on the defensive: he never feels isolated or alone. Life to

him becomes friendly. He trusts everyone, everything. This is what keeps him

fearless in a fear-ridden

world.

 

-To be continued

(Author: Sri J P Vaswani)

 

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya….

 

To be happy, we need to forget many things. We must learn the art of forgetting!

 

Surrender all you are and all you have to the Lord, and He will take care of everything.