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Today's
Quotation:
Fear can
infect us early in life until eventually it cuts a deep groove
of
apprehension in all our thinking. To counteract it, let faith,
hope
and courage enter your thinking. Fear is strong, but faith is
stronger yet.
Norman Vincent Peale
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Today's
Meditation:
When
we feel fear strongly, it's very difficult to remind
ourselves that there are forces in this world that are
stronger than fear. Fear tends to take control of us,
to overwhelm us, to put us in a state in which we can notice
only the fear. And in those circumstances, the fear
tends to build on itself like a fire, growing as it catches
hold of other parts of ourselves.
If
we can keep our minds open to the idea that there are forces
stronger than fear, though, we can provide ourselves with a
way out of the fear. As I grow older, I find that I
have ways to counteract fear when it appears, and most of
them have to do with reminding myself of the reality of the
"big picture" rather than focusing so strongly on
the particular situation that's causing me fear.
Fear
depends on our attention to survive. If we don't give
it the attention that it needs, if we're able to focus our
thoughts elsewhere and maintain our peace of mind, we're
making sure that fear doesn't have the conditions that it
needs in order to thrive. If I can focus on my faith
in the good things in life, then my fear will not rise past
a healthy level-- and yes, a certain level of fear can be
very healthy.
Faith
does not mean a particular set of beliefs in God as defined
by any particular religious groups. Faith is our
knowledge that life and God-- however we see God-- are positive, loving forces that
will take care of us, and that have been doing so since we
arrived on this planet. Faith is the knowledge the the
truths in life are stronger than the lies that many people
spread in an attempt to gain whatever they need or want for
themselves.
Fear
is as strong as we let it be. Faith is the same
way. Which do you choose to be the stronger force in
your life?
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