Facing into fear while letting go of all of the many self-intoxicants which we use to push fear away in favor of comfort and power is the only way forward in life. Jesus modeled this when he answered Pilot’s great question with a series of self-offerings. What is truth? Watch this. This is truth.
There will always be chaos. There will also always be people who will meet the chaos with a way of being in the world which increases the fears of others in a desperate attempt to escape one’s own fear. We see it all the time in the programs of despots of all kinds.
To face fear head on with gentle kindness, even to smile gently at fear is the only way forward. The elderly fear their own bodies. The rich fear losing money they hold only until the entire system collapses underneath them. Lovers fear the rejection of their longings. Clergy fear the de-friending inevitably coming from the next generations. Congregants fear change and yet they also fear maintaining broken systems. Children fear not having enough and not being sure what enough is when they watch tv. Fear abounds.
The question is Pilot’s. “What is truth?” The answer is that truth is only as powerful as its ability to be seen and is only as valuable as its ability to inspire gentle, loving kinendess in the face of fear.
