Fear crushes us but faith elevates us

Fear crushes us when we are haunted by the shadows of the past and the gray clouds of pessimism and resignation darken the golden fields of wheat. Instead of starting to run like free people towards the sun, we hide behind the boulders of our fears. Every day we can decide to look at reality in a positive or negative way.

Life calls us by name and invites us to assume a position of trust or mistrust, of pessimism or optimism, of despair or hope. Based on our attitude we will have different visions on how to deal with the past, the present, and the future.

The Old Testament tells the story of the Jewish people who under the guidance of Moses begin a journey towards the Promised Land, a symbol of peace, joy, and freedom. Upon leaving Egypt, the children of Israel began a fascinating journey, full of challenges and adventures towards the land that God had promised the patriarchs.

After various incredible experiences, the passage of the Red Sea, the Sinai alliance, they arrived at Kades, the gateway to Canaan. Here Moses decided to send good news from the land of hope to encourage the people now tired and oppressed by monotony.

As leaders he chose twelve brave and intelligent men, to bring back objective and truthful information from the earth that was presented to them as a challenge. Going into exploration, he instructed them to scrupulously observe every detail, to realistically analyze the data, both positive and negative.

After 40 days they returned from exploring the country and went to see Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of the Israelites. They returned carrying information of opposite sign, double in aspect as life itself or as a symphony that knows the high tones and the low tones.

Ten of them reported that it was impossible to access this land full of pitfalls and unbeatable enemies. Two of them, on the contrary, spoke with enthusiasm of this new country, bearing the fruits and describing the beauty of the places.

Caleb, representative of the Tribe of Judah, calming the people who murmured against Moses said – Let’s go quickly and conquer the country because it is certain we can succeed. But how did the multitude of the Jewish people react? With the attitude of fear that led them to exclaim – We will not be able to go against this people because they are stronger than us -.

These words of the people indicate the inability to free themselves from the conditioning of the past (years of slavery) and therefore to measure their real strength. This is a bit like what happens to us when we remain prisoners of wounds or negative experiences that have clipped the wings of courage and self-confidence.

Many times fear overwhelms us and prevents us from making those courageous choices that give full fulfillment to the realization of the Happiness Project. When we are haunted by the fears of the shadows of our past the gray clouds of pessimism and resignation darken the golden fields of wheat and instead of starting to run like free people towards the sun, we hide behind the boulders of our fears.

But when we rediscover the power of faith in our resources, in the talents present in us, in the ability to learn, to heal, to improve, and in the strength of life. We become capable of undertakings that are impossible for those who find themselves in the shadow of their fears since fear crushes us, faith elevates us.