"the hopes and fears of all the years..."

It is ironic, but not surprising, that those, who with assumed intellectual superiority harangue against simplistic solutions, counter the threat of terrorism with the most narrow minded, simplistic responses: "We must not give in to fear." In response to the recent terrorists' attacks in California and Paris, when any would suggest we need to be more vigilant whom we allow through our borders, when any would purchase a gun to protect themselves and their families, the official drumbeat response from the administration and collaborating, talking heads of the media was "We must not give in to fear. We must not respond out of fear." That makes a great sound bite, reminiscent of FDR's famous "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." It appeals to the heart. But, notice its dangerous assumption: That there is nothing to fear. Not true. I found such emphasis insulting both of intellect and courage. I am being told that my fear is illogical and that I am just being a "fraidey cat." This call not to respond in fear is short-sighted in that it does not acknowledge that there are two broad classes of fear--baseless, foundationless fear and justified fear. We shouldn't respond out of baseless fear. But, there are some things that we have reason to fear. If you live in South Florida and go around biting your nails and carrying AK 47 because you fear polar bears, that is baseless. You are way off in your actions and in your head. You should not act out of baseless fear. On the other hand, if a vicious, wild polar bear was being transported from Alaska to a zoo in Australia, and, in Florida, where a connection was being made, the polar bear escaped in your neighborhood, then your fear and actions would not be wrong. You would not be responding irrationally or unreasonably. You would not be profiling polar bears. We have much to fear in America, and America should be responding to those fears. I have found that any who care, any who think, any who can feel, have a conglomeration of fears in their hearts and minds. Often, we cannot distinguish between the baseless, phobic, fears and the well-grounded, justified fears. This Christmas season I keep hearing playing in my head one line from "O Little Town Of Bethlehem." That line is, "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." In Bethlehem Jesus was born. He is the answer to every hope and fear. He fulfills our deepest hopes and assuages our greatest fears. Thing is, He "meets" all of our fear, both the baseless and the justified. Instead of the focus being on not responding out of fear, the focus should be on what should be the response to our fear. Jesus. Turn to Him. Believe in Him. Accept Him. As John the Baptist's father said, Jesus has come "that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear," (Luke 1:74).

"the hopes and fears of all the years..."

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