//Heart Light Inspirations//
When Faith is Stronger Than Fear
Fear Not
//Beulah Hope Ministries//
What are You Afraid of? [Courage Series Part 2]
The Most Dominant Emotion in Society
“The most dominant emotion in our modern society is fear. We may not like to admit it, but we are afraid. Afraid of rejection and failure, afraid of certain parts of town, afraid of certain types of people, afraid of criticism, afraid of suffering and heartache, afraid of change, afraid of losing the things we have worked hard to buy, and afraid to tell people how we really feel… We are afraid of so many things. We’re even afraid to be ourselves.
Some of these fears we’re aware of, while others are tucked away deep in our subconscious. Either way, they play a very large role in our choices and actions.
Fear is a great limiter of life. Fear stops more people from doing something with their lives than lack of talent, resources, or opportunity. Fear has a tendency to paralyze and imprison us. Don’t let that happen to you.
It’s important to remember that fear is just chemicals. Sometimes it’s a good thing, protects you from danger. But when fear keeps you from living life to the fullest it’s a bad thing.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the acquired ability to move beyond fear. It’s time to start acquiring that ability.
In Part Three of this series, we will explore how different your life would be if you had a little more courage.”
When Your Faith Becomes Stronger Than Your Fear
//Sacred Soul Energy Healing//
Live Your Life without Fear
“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”—John 14: 27
Etty Hillesum was a vibrant young Jewish woman who lived in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam and died in Auschwitz in 1943. In the months before she was arrested, she underwent a profound transformation through psychotherapy. She discovered God and refused to give in to hatred, even when facing the evil of the Holocaust. She refused to worry about what might be her fate.
She journaled: “If one burdens the future with one’s worries, the future cannot grow organically. I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed in worldly things, but that even when things go badly for me, I shall still find life good and worth living.” She realized that the fear of suffering causes more pain than the suffering itself does.
About these fears she wrote: “We have to fight fears daily, like fleas, those many small worries about tomorrow. for they sap our energy….We must not allow ourselves to become infested with thousands of petty fears, and worries, so many motions of no confidence in God. Everything will turn out all right.”
Be confident! Trust in God to handle the future.
Lord, like Etty, help me to discover you anew so my life can unfold organically. The future is yours. The present is mine. Help me to live it well. Amen.
—from the book Three Minutes with God: Reflections and Prayers to Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate
by Monsignor Frank Bognanno
Decision Point – Season 2/Episode 5 – This is Personal
Everything in life takes courage, but the most dominant emotion in our society today is fear. What fears are holding you back?
Click on link to play video:
https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/plus/decision-point/confirmation-2-5.html
Minute Meditation – Living from Hope
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.”—St. John XXIII
Change in our lives can be difficult. Reflect on some of the major changes in your life and what you’ve learned about yourself from them.
—From the book Guided by the Saints: A 30-Day Journal for Inspiration and Direction
by Susan Hines-Brigger
How Your Greatest Fear is Affecting Your Relationships
You may be afraid of flying, spiders, heights, and snakes, but there is one fear that dominates the human experience. We all have it. It’s our greatest fear. It sabotages relationships. It produces existential loneliness.
We’re afraid that if people really knew us, they wouldn’t love us. That’s our greatest fear.
The real tragedy is that by pretending to be the person we think other people want us to be, we destroy our chances at really being loved. Because when someone does come along to say, “I love you” there’s a little voice in our head that says, “No you don’t. You love the person you think I am.”
This is how people end up desperately lonely in a relationship.
Hugh Prather observed, “Some people are going to like me and some won’t. So I might as well be myself, and then at least I’ll know that the people who like me, like me.””
Minute Meditation – Spilling Good
Spilling good brings clarity, maybe especially in times of uncertainty. Because sometimes, life can feel too big. Too precarious. Times that break us, undo us. Times when the labels we give our limitations make our anxiety or fear feel bigger than life itself. And sometimes (if I’m honest), I’ve got nothing to give. But I’m a storyteller, and I take consolation in stories about our human capacity for recovery and renewal. When I focus on what is missing, I do not see my capacity for enoughness, inside.
The ordinary moments of every day (even those that confuse us, unnerve us, or break our hearts) are hiding places of the holy. Where the sacred is alive and well. Where hope grows. Anxiety and vulnerability are real, yes. But the answer is not to chase vulnerability away. It’s the opposite. My vulnerability is the signal that I am human, with the capacity to be stretched, to give my heart, to be broken, to cry with those who break, to spill good. And I don’t ever want to lose that.
—from the book Stand Still: Finding Balance When the World Turns Upside Down,
by Terry Hershey, page 45
Don’t Let Fear Rule You
LET YOUR SOUL SHINE
Have you ever put yourself into the most intense Bible scenes? The Flight into Egypt, the Crucifixion…How did the people of the Bible manage their fear in those moments? If you feel fear gripping your heart, watch today’s video for a piece of advice and some insights that will lead to a peaceful life. Watch the video!
Click on the link to watch video:
https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/advent/12202022-gospel-reflection.html