Mine Field

My mom was always afraid of strangers.  Every little sound when she was alone in the house, frightened her.  She thought someone was trying to get in to harm her.

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.  - Hebrews 13:1

I guess it is normal to be fearful of strangers.

So many horror stories begin with the appearance of a stranger in town, someone nobody knows and few want to know, that we have been conditioned to believe the unknown visitor is the one bearing evil intent and destruction.

Danger is an interesting thing.  It paralyzes us.

We can walk through a minefield not knowing it is one, and our steps are taken swiftly and confidently, but tell us we are in peril by doing so, and we are frozen in fear.

Suddenly every possible next step is a hazard and we need to be rescued.

If someone tells us the risk of injury is small with each step, it doesn't ease our fears.  Instead, we find our fears magnified, knowing how many steps we have already taken without injury.

I believe there is no way to talk people out of fear.  Emotions do not respond well to reason, and that can explain why so much of our current discourse is ineffective.

We cannot convince each other that our fears are not real.

So, Mom lived with double locked doors and alarms, everything bolted shut, protected from the world as much as she could manage.

When she died, most of what she tried to protect from thieves was given away or thrown out.  It held little value to anyone but her, and with her gone, it had none.

If we take the advice in today's reading to heart, and let mutual love continue, we might be able to better manage our own fears.

But as long as fear exists, we will find it and let it take charge of our lives.

And the stranger will pass us by.

More to come...