From the Rector…
Recently, during my morning swim, I pushed off the wall only to come face to face with an alligator. I mean mere inches away. I wasn’t at the beach or a lake, but in a swimming pool in the middle of Montgomery. It definitely got my attention.
Granted, it wasn’t a real alligator. It was a remarkably realistic fake alligator head that the pool owners had placed in the water to try and get rid of a pair of ducks who had taken up residence. Before I started swimming, I had noticed a couple of inflatable alligators floating in the deep end, but I hadn’t seen the fake heads until I was halfway through my workout.
Even after that first surprise, I had to keep my imagination in check. Every time one of those fake alligator heads bobbed into view, my pulse quickened just a bit. Intellectually, I knew there was nothing to fear. The heads weren’t alive, and they certainly didn’t have bodies attached to them. Even so, they were unsettling.
Many of my fears are like those alligators. I see something, hear something, or imagine something, and my mind starts filling in the blanks. Usually, I can rein it back in fairly quickly. But sometimes those fears linger.
Our brains are designed with a fear response that helps us survive. When we perceive a threat, stress hormones are released, our breathing and heart rate increase, and our bodies prepare to fight, flee, or freeze. While most of us are no longer worried about predators lurking outside the cave, our brains still react to perceived danger much the same way they always have.
Sometimes that fear response is triggered by situations that aren’t actually dangerous. Anxiety can take hold through uncertainty, loss, failure, rejection, or simply the unknown. Some of those fears are learned through experience; others seem almost instinctive. Whatever their source, fear often has a way of convincing us that the worst-case scenario is the most likely one.
The good news is that we don’t have to be ruled by fear. Practices like prayer and meditation help cultivate a mind that is less reactive and more responsive. Instead of immediately assuming the worst, we learn to pause, breathe, and ask what is actually true. Naming our fears out loud and distinguishing between what we are perceiving and what is real can diminish their power. We can also become a non-anxious presence for others. Fear is contagious, but so is calm. When we respond with trust instead of panic, we often help those around us do the same.
Pastor Adam Hamilton offers a helpful acronym for FEAR:
• Face your fears.
• Examine your assumptions versus the facts.
• Attack your anxieties with action.
• Release your cares to God.
As Christians, learning to live with less fear is more than a strategy for better mental health; it is a spiritual discipline. Throughout Scripture, God’s response to human fear is not, “Nothing bad will happen,” but, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” Our confidence rests not in our ability to control every circumstance, but in God’s faithful presence.
Those alligator heads, like many of our fears, are not real—no matter how threatening they may look. And the ducks? They’re still around—just a little more cautious about getting in the pool.
Light and Life,
Candice+