Someone asked what the most important thing was that I learned during my long interest in a spiritual life. I said I thought a spiritual life came first and foremost from a life lived out of fear. I see that most people, including me, have lived  their lives in fear.  They live in a system that convinces them that this is what they need. They need regular paychecks, frequent visits to the doctor, medications, retirement funds, “news” to keep informed, weather and financial updates, a political system that degrades them, jobs that leave them unfulfilled, religions that frighten them.  The system of fear around us teaches us that we desperately need these things to live, and so we structure our lives in that way.

Some learn to live out of fear – Thoreau being a patron saint, rejecting conventions on behalf of a life lived in fulfillment and self-determination. But this requires breaking away from most of the conventional wisdoms about life. You will not see stories on the news about lives lived out of fear. I have lived in both camps, having spent most of my life living in fear, and I am just beginning to live a life out of fear. I am just beginning to comprehend what that means: changing much of what you do, how you live, how you think. It is difficult to live out of fear and quite understandably, most people choose to accept the messages they receive about how they need to live their lives in order to be safe. I don’t blame them. It’s a tough idea to walk away from.

A life out of fear is different. It is about understanding that security is internal, not external. It is not something “they” can award us with health care, retirement funds, mortgages and so-called secure jobs. If we are calm within, we can be calm without. If we are quiet within, we can be quiet without. If we are safe within, then our lives our safe and secure. This is what I am coming to see, working to do.