Why are you afraid?
This is the question Jesus asked his disciples when their boat was in a storm. It always sounded solely like a rebuke to me, but not anymore; it is a critically important question and a key to discerning our spiritual health at any given time.
Why are you afraid?
Why, specifically?
Are you afraid that you are going to die?
Why be afraid to die? The answer seems self-evident, but it is not. The fear of death is exaggerated by multiple unexamined fears bundled together, many of which we can do something about. The number one fear I have witnessed in 12 years of coffinmaking is:
Fear of not having sufficiently loved the people in our lives.
If you are alive (and you are, regardless of how much less so you might feel than you once did) you can step up your love for the people in your life right now. Tell them you love them, definitely, but also forgive and ask forgiveness where needed. To forgive someone, whether you believe they “deserve it” or not, is to lay down a part of your life for another.
Forgiveness is an act that requires, and builds, faith.
It is the highest form of love and it will set you free.
There have been many sober people who were not afraid to die. None of them held a grudge. Rather than dissipate the time we have left with distractions, let’s attempt to clearly see, and then take practical steps to resolve, just what exactly it is that we fear.