Crippled by Our Fears

A friend recently posted on the Internet the following Confucius saying>> "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential...these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."  When I read this I could not help but pose the question, 'Why does not more people achieve that personal excellence; that desirable personal mountain top?' What stops them?

For a moment consider...By the numbers antidepressant drug use is on the rise in American. One out of six Americans take antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs. The rate increase of antidepressant/anxiety drug usage has reached 65% over the past 15-years. You might ask, 'Why?' I say WHY NOT! From the moment a child begins to comprehend parental directions the messages, although they might be subliminal in delivery they are none-the-less crystal clear: Be Fearful for Evil Lurks. "Don't talk to strangers." "Never accept a ride from somebody." "Do you remember our family 'codeword' should somebody tell you they've been sent by your parent to pick you up?" "No, you can't ride your bike  that far." These are just a few of the bedrock anchors children have seared into their psyche. It is a fear-foundation strongly suggesting to the impressionable child that the world about is a very dangerous place.

As the adolescent comes to understand that they must get a formal education beyond high school in order to survive a material world they then act on the demand only to amass a financial debt that weighs on the mind and compromises joy for years. Along with those personal burdens, the world about them seems unclear, vague and ill-defined. Nuclear chaos is always on the horizon while  global warming suggests a doubtful future and racial tensions produces endless concerns and social tensions.

Only in America's westward expansion was personal safety so problematic in this nation. We cleaned up the frontier towns making the cowboys check their guns at the Sheriff's office when in town. Today, we go about our communities to theaters, concerts, eateries, worship centers and schools with the real possibility that a weapon of mass destruction is likely in our midst and moments away from usage. Let's admit that we (Americans) need metal detectors at every venue outside our homes. The airport TSA folks may be keeping us safe from foreign terrorists but we really need to be safe from home grown American (neighbor) terrorists.

 I believe the greatest illness of the 21st century America is 'Fear.' Fear of failure and fear of doom.

Praise the Lord and pass the antidepressants!