Bishop Charleston on Overcoming Fear
“I have an assignment for you over this weekend: don’t be afraid. Wait, before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I am not talking about some greeting card spirituality where you just put on a happy face and pretend nothing bad is happening around you. I am talking about taking some time over the next three days to seriously confront fear in your life and feel its power over you diminish. How?
Like most spiritual healing, it seems deceptively easy. First, find a quiet moment when you won’t be disturbed. Then, sit upright in a comfortable position. Close your eyes, open your hands, and breathe in and out with an awareness of each breath. Sit quietly. Don’t pray at this time. Just open your heart to the Spirit and receive the feeling of a sacred presence in your life. Abide in it. Let it permeate your whole body as though you were being bathed in light. Join me in doing this for ten minutes at least once a day over the next three days. Join me in the fight against fear: become a receiver of light.”—Bishop Steven Charleston Facebook Page.
Bishop Charleston has written several pieces about fear recently. How does he know that fear looms over us like a suffocating cloud during this pandemic and time of unrest? Fear has a smell, an odor, a way of speaking, a walk, a glance, a posture. Fear lies, getting “bottomless Pinocchio’s Factchecks from The Washington Post. Fear wakes us up in the night. Fear keeps us from saying our prayers because we need to do whatever we can to attack fear, get rid of it. We can try to hide it, avoid it, put it in the closet of our mind and body, but it sneaks out through a keyhole when we are not looking. Fear comes without invitation. It is a bully, pushing its way through the happiness of our days to stand front and center shouting with an outside voice so we cannot hear the preciousness of our days. Fear also knows how to whisper so softly we do not recognize its presence.
Charleston gives fear one more attribute I did not know about. He says fear is a coward that shrinks like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz when water is poured on her when fear hears laughter. Bishop Charleston tells us, “laughter is to fear what garlic is to a vampire. It chases away fear by exposing how much deeper life is, how much more alive and engaging, with so many possibilities, so many chances that our worst fears will never happen anyway. Humor and hope drain worry and anxiety of all their power, leaving them sulking in a corner while joy walks in through the front door.”
So, Bishop Charleston tells us to think of the funniest thing we have experienced when fear sneaks in. My experience is that laughter must come from something humorous that I have read in a story, seen in a movie or television series, or seen in my life. I think of playing with my children and grandchildren when they were small. This could be another answer. Being with children is an automatic laughter-inducing event. We may not be able to be with them now in the pandemic, but we can ask for videos, FaceTime, and even Zooms with them. Just the sound of their voice can make a difference. Children make us do funny things like sit on the floor, create silly faces, or speak an ancient language.
Of course, there are so many other ways to deal with fear, but just for today, we will try this one until fear reduces to a manageable level or even takes a sabbatical or even a leave of absence.
Joanna joannaseibert