Fear itself

...The only thing we have to fear is fear itself...

FDR's inaugural speech remains one of the most remarkable moments in American history. These were the right words at exactly the right time. Of course, what a lot of people don't remember--or perhaps don't even know--is that Roosevelt took office in 1933. In other words, his statement about fear actually came before things got really bad.

The point here doesn't make the speech any less powerful or any less true. But it does, perhaps, dry some of the fog of our sensibilities. We sometimes imagine that things should happen exactly at the moment we want them to. And when they don't, we sometimes give up on them altogether. Things didn't "get wonderful" in America for several years after FDR spoke those words. But I wonder... did some folks begin to leave fear behind right then and there? Were some (many?) able to let go of the fear, even though there were still many trials and tribulations to come?

I saw a curious thing this morning. I turned my computer on and began reading the headlines on Google's news page. One of the headlines was about a new anti-cancer pill. The word "miracle-drug" was actually used in the article. Just three headlines later was an announcement that Elizabeth Edwards was gravely "ill" and that she was stopping her treatments. I wonder how she is doing? Is she afraid or is she past all that?

The thing about fear is that it is terribly debilitating. It's perhaps the most debilitating of all emotions. When we are afraid we do not function as well as we might. When we are very afraid, we can barely function at all. This was, of course, one of the critical lessons of Roosevelt's speech. Whether it was Roosevelt himself or Eleanor or a speech writer or just the voice of God trying to break in at just the right moment, someone understood that the only way out was up. As long as the people remained focused on all the frightful signs around them, things were not going to get better and there was a real chance that additional fear would actually make things a whole lot worse.

And it was at that point that FDR did something amazing. He shifted the focus of many people and, thereby, shifted the very direction of the nation. Again, this didn't happen overnight. But the seed had been planted. The word (or words) had in a very real way set people free.

Of course, some will say nothing really changed--that words cannot really do anything. But I would definitely disagree here. Words can do great things and, in this case, just a few words did amazing things for many, many people. To consider, if even for a moment, that our real enemy is not all the things that we set to worrying about but the very worrying itself--this is a remarkable consideration. Moreover, to accept that this might actually be true--this is a life-changing event.

Many are familiar with that phrase, "The truth shall set you free." It comes from John 8 where Jesus is having a discussion with those who do not trust him. The full line is this, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ According to Jesus, the truth that sets us free is what we learn from him. The conversation goes on there in chapter 8 and it appears to come down to a matter of what is inside a person:
Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

Pretty sharp words here from Jesus and we might be offended. But again, if what he is saying is true, then we should not let our offense get in the way. Perhaps our devotion to fear comes from something other than our own minds. Perhaps what we need is not merely new ideas but a different center--a transformed heart.

We have all seen the difference--the difference between a person whose life is driven by fear and a person whose life is driven by grace and love and hope. Such people can scarcely be shaken. They are somehow free from the kinds of things that plague so many others. We sometimes call them courageous and they certainly are that. But it is also something more. I think what we are seeing here are people that have been set free. Perhaps these are people in whom the very Word of God dwells.