Christian Life 10 - On Fear

    What are you afraid of?  What's your greatest fear?   Are you afraid of snakes?  Planes?  High places?  Crazy drivers?  Clowns?  Ghosts?  Death?

    For one semester (back during our college days) my wife switched her major from Biology to Psychology.  During that semester, she tried me out on a test designed to determine a person's phobias.  She was somewhat shocked to find that, according to the test in her textbook, I have no phobias or fears.  That seemed about right to me.  As a good friend once described me, I tend to be one of those people who runs toward the danger.

    I've had the privilege of surviving for 4 decades since then, and I hope to have learned a few things in the interim.   I'm pretty sure that the reason I don't have any fears is because that test didn't check for the one thing I am afraid of.  There's one fear that everyone shares, and we never discuss or even think about it lest we somehow conjure it into existence.  I'm going to name that fear now.  If you think about it, I'll bet you'll agree:

    Irrelevance.

    Our biggest fear is that, in the great scheme of things, we just don't matter.  Our whole lives are wrapped around the idea of making ourselves somehow memorable.  Adored or despised, just not forgotten.  And it's actually a very reasonable fear.  For just a moment, let us ponder the possibility of our irrelevance.

    Of all the people on the earth, to whom do you think you should matter the most?  Your family, right?  Let us then conduct a quick experiment with your family:  barring unusual circumstances, you had four great-grandfathers.  Name one.  Any one.  Think about what he did for a living.  Where was he born?  Other than your own grandparent, how many kids did he have?  When did he marry?  When did he die?

    Unless you're a genealogy buff, chances are high that you didn't know the answers to any of those questions.  Here's one more:  when was the last time you lied awake at night, tossing and turning, repeatedly asking your, "why can't I remember my great-grandfather's name?"  I'm going out on a limb here to say, "never."

    So, just how relevant was a life if, even among those to whom that life is most important, within three generations, nobody really knows or cares that it was lived at all?  Hmmm...

    That's not a condemnation.  I'm not shaming you for forgetting about your great-grandfather.  That's actually pretty normal.  My point is just the opposite.  I'm not pointing out that your great-grandfather was irrelevant.  I'm pointing out that you are, too.

    And that's not a bad thing.  Even though you are almost certainly balking at the moment, step back from the idea for a second and examine it critically.  Imagine how much harm we all do to one another in our quests for relevance.  Imagine the pride, the competition, the strife that goes into the simple act of trying to leave a mark on the world.

    While we're being analytical, let us consider the opposite.  For just a moment, let us consider - for purely experimental purposes - the ramifications of accepting our own irrelevance.  The first thing one notices is that, without the fear of irrelevance, there are no fears of any kind.  Why fear death, if life never mattered in the first place?  If my life doesn't matter, then neither does anyone else's, so why should I care if Bob got promoted over me?  Why should it bother me if that Road Rhino cut me off in traffic, if nothing about this commute really matters?

    The next thing we notice is the lack of pride.  If my life has no more relevance that the next person, I have no need to compete with them.  I have no need to control even my little corner of the world.  Surely a little humility can't be a bad thing, right?

    We continue to balk.  So deeply rooted is our Fear of Irrelevance, that we have more excuses for it's maintenance than any other idea we can conjure.  But I remind you of the innumerable times Jesus and the angels said "Fear not."  The frequency with which we've been told to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Exactly what fear do you think they were talking about?  What humility do you think they had in mind?

    Imagine waking up in the morning with no fear of any kind; with no pride whatsoever  No turmoil, no conflicts, just tranquility.  Do you think that might go a long way toward establishing that peace we discussed yesterday?  Welcome to Irrelevance!

Pax