The Mind Killer

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

-Frank Herbert, Dune

The Litany Against Fear of the Bene Gesserit

I have to admit, for a made up religion in a science fiction novel, that's pretty good stuff.  Almost, I dare say, worth committing to memory.  You will notice below on what I like to call the Wheel O' Feelings, that fear or feeling scared is a primary emotion, from which spring all sorts of other emotions.

*this is the most common version of the Wheel of Feelings..

All fairly negative emotions.  In fact, out of the three negative core feelings: mad, sad and scared, fear is the least constructive.  We all know that anger can be an engine and a source of strength, and anyone who has ever read poetry or listened to music knows that sadness has it's own creative juice, but fear... not so much.  If fear doesn't get transmuted into something else (hopefully a positive emotion, but failing that at least into constructive anger or reflective sadness) it just leads us into the muck.

And thus everyone, from guidance counselors to Jedi Masters will tell you that avoidance is probably not the best way to deal with your fear.  What Herbert uses as the core of his Bene Gesserit Litany against fear is the idea that your fear is a useful indicator of sorts, something like the tracer dye that they use to diagnose certain types of cancer, it marks the places where you are weak, and shows you where you need to grow or heal.

Fear can often limit our ability to experience the positive things of the world, and thus fear is often the greatest culprit that keeps us from living as our true selves.  Fear of what other people will think, fear of rejection, fear of failure, and ultimately fear of death, are some pretty universal human emotions, and generally speaking, do they lead anywhere?

Only if you manage to move past them.

It troubles me that so many people seem to be religious because they're afraid of something.  In a lot of cases, people seem to be afraid of God.  To which some will say, "well, that's because, 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  But actually, blind fear and the willful ignorance it engenders, do not lead to any such thing.  Only fear in the sense of reverence or perhaps some good old fashioned awe and wonder will really lead to more wisdom.

We cannot actually help being afraid.  People who have done immense acts of courage will tell you, if they're being honest, that they were terrified the whole time.  That's actually why they're brave, not because they didn't feel the fear, but because they pushed through it, or rather, to use Herbert's words they let it pass through them.

When you analyze your fear in retrospect, you can often see how truly brave you were, and that's where learning and truth can come in.

The Christian journey of faith is, in large part, a journey of letting the fear of God become something different than just feeling scared of God.  Let it become Awe, let it become reverence, but never forget that God loves you.