Friday, January 13, 2017

free from fear

Today in A Daily Reader for Contemplative Living, Thomas Keating tells us how freeing it is when we live without fear.

And he's so very right. The thing I find is that when I am living without fear in my life, I find myself free to love. Free to love God, and free to love other people. When I am afraid, I have trouble trusting God, and that makes it hard to love Him. When I am afraid, I have difficulty loving other people. Partially because I am thinking far too much about myself. And partially because when you love someone, you make yourself vulnerable. If you're living without fear, you can make yourself vulnerable with confidence. But when you're afraid, you don't stick your neck out. You don't reach out to help other people because you're afraid they might hurt you.

So let's call on God to take away our fear. Let's ask Him to fill us completely with His love, since He has taught us that there is no fear in love - perfect love casts it out.

God, fill us with Your love so that our fear will vanish and we can love You in return... and overflow that love to everyone else.

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