THANKS FOR THE RESPONSES

Rachen, Raju, Ann, Ruma Pal, and all else who have responded ACTIVELY OR PASSIVELY.

First, thanks for the response. I deem it a blessing to be connected to each other through the teachings of Jesus.

I am grateful to you for your responses. I agree with all of them. Especially with Raju's insight into the negative correlation between faith and fear. It is indisputable that they cannot co-exist. But in us they do. That needs to be faced and struggled with. What sense may we make of this state?

May I offer the following additional possibilities?

When we think of 'fearing' we always, or at least mostly, think of that state as due to factors external to us. It is assumed, perhaps not realizing it to be the case, that we fear because we are faced with realities that are fearful in themselves.

Jesus challenges this assumption. When he says, 'Do not fear', he is not positing fear in relation to situations. instead, he puts the spotlight on our inner state.

This ties well with the psychological reality that most of our fears are irrational or baseless. That is easy to see, for we fear what is to come. Consider the three words to understand this better: dread, terror, and fear. We find the traumatic things that happened in the past dreadful. Present dangers terrorize us. We fear what may happen. We do not know the future. So, we fear what do not know, which is a bit strange. But we are used to it. So, we take it for granted.

This irrational fear of the unknown holds us back from doing what our spiritual sense of responsibility (conscience?) urges us to do. So, do not, as St Paul confesses (Rom.7:14ff00 do the good that we feel inwardly urged to do. This explains why Jesus insists that fear and discipleship are incompatible.

So, Jesus teaches that the key to dealing with this self-paralyzing situation is ourselves. The self is disposed to fear. The good news is that it is possible to overcome this state.

That is where FAITH should come in. The primary function of faith is to lift us from ourselves. By habit, we trust only ourselves. When we do so, we are aware only of our inadequacies. In the state of faith, we trust what is hugely greater than ourselves. This delivers us of our innate irrationalities and the anxieties bred by them.

This teaching of Jesus is related to the teaching, 'deny yourself' (Mtt.16:2). The self, as self, is a nest of fears. So long as we stay directed by the self alone, we remain ridden by fears.

What about the self? Well, the self exists in a conditioned state. By virtue of our birth, growth and formation, we get formatted to fear; for the reason that fear is the foremost strategy of the world from the home to the State. Parents scare their children into easier conduct. The State uses brutal force to instill fear and submission in citizens. Man, as T. S. Eliot wrote, is "fear in a handful of dust"

Faith-based freedom from fear, which is different from worldly recklessness, is the pre-condition for ministering to human beings lodged in a web of fear.

There is an added dimension to this in the teachings of Jesus. Jesus came to set the captives free. Fear keeps people captives. Far more people remain captives to their own irrational fears. In comparison, those who are in objective prisons are far, far fewer. Most people are their own prisons with themselves as jail wardens. We can afford to be freer than we are, provided we root ourselves in faith.

I raised this issue to demonstrate that there is far more to every teaching of Jesus than is often assumed. Christians are at a handicap in this respect. They are FAMILIAR with the words of Jesus's teachings. So, they assume that they know the meaning of his teachings. This could be far from the truth.

We may have the words, but not the meaning, of his teachings. Familiarity with the words may not ensure intimacy with the spirit of his teachings.

It is this consideration that made me decide to offer a series of video messages on WHAT JESUS MEANT.

As you know, the series is now launched. Every week, 2 messages will be uploaded. I would welcome and appreciate any help from anyone to reach these insights to as many as possible.

Best wishes to all.

Valson