Most people believe that President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s quote about fear, “The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself”, came after the bombing of Pearl Harbor drawing the United States
into the Second World War . . . but, that is wrong. President Roosevelt spoke that famous quote
during his first inauguration speech in 1933 when he was addressing the nation
in the depth of the Great Depression. In
his first speech as the president, he wanted to bring hope to the American
people in a time of panic and hopelessness due to the Great Depression’s
economic woes. Here is the quote in its
entirety: “So, first of all, let me
assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts
to convert retreat into advance.”
President Roosevelt recognized the power
of fear. Recognized its power to be a
deterrent that keeps progress and growth from taking place . . . that keeps
people from grasping opportunities to make changes and differences . . . that
keep people from fulfilling their hopes, dreams, and becoming who they were
created to be . . . of helping those in need.
Roosevelt understood the power of fear and how it was sweeping the
nation, dragging it to the bottom of the pit.
The pit of ineffectiveness. Thus,
his goal was to alleviate that fear and call the people into action.
Historians have stated that Roosevelt’s
1933 inaugural speech took on a solemn, religious quality in its message. He mentions materialism—the love of
material—as the greatest factor in the nation’s current state of depression. He mentions how this has destroyed the ethics
and morals of the nation and its people focus more and more on material
possessions. And, in his call to restore
the nation back to its greatness and to pull it out of economic depression, he focuses
on the idea of neighborliness . . . the act of being a good neighbor.
In his speech he states: “In the field of world policy I would
dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who
resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of
others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of
his agreements in and with a world of neighbors . . . If I read the temper of
our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our
interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take but we must give as
well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army
willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such
discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I
know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline,
because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.”
Imagine that . . . in a speech that is
nearly 86 years old . . . the diagnosis to the problem is fear, and the remedy
is love.
It is always love, not fear.
This is the message of Jesus . . . love,
not fear. This is the gospel, the good
news, that Jesus shares. Love conquers
all. Jesus focused on love . . . always
love. We all know that he stated that
the two most important things that any person could do came down to love . . .
love of God . . . love of neighbor. Life
is meant to be lived in love and nothing else . . . especially not fear.
In our reading we are near the end of
Jesus’ earthly ministry. He and the
disciples are in the city of Jerusalem for the Passover. In the Gospel
of Mark, starting with this chapter, we are entering a series of
proclamations that many biblical scholars and historians call Jesus’
mini-apocalypses . . . dealing with the end times. It begins with his disciples asking him when
all these scary doomsday events are going to take place. Jesus can sense the fear in their questioning
. . . he hears it in their voices. Thus
it is that Jesus attempts to quell their fears by telling them not to be
worried about such things. Instead he
would rather they focus on him and what he has taught and done . . . focus on
his message of living in love. He tells
them that if they do this, they will have nothing to fear.
We know, as the followers of Jesus, that
the gospel or good news, is love . . . love to restore the relationship with
God . . . love to restore the relationship between individuals . . . and, love
to restore the family of God—the Kingdom—as God desires it to be. Never has the gospel ever been intended to be
a message of fear. The whole thing is
based on love . . . loving relationships.
As Jesus stated, it is pretty simple . . . love.
Simple, yes . . . but we live in a time
of fear. We live in a time in which we
have allowed fear to guide our lives and our decisions. We have seen this especially in the recent
political elections within our nations.
Politicians everywhere and on all sides used fear to sway voters. How many times throughout the long, long
election cycle did we all proclaim that we were sick and tired of it all?
At the same time, the fear that has
engulfed our lives is not only being stoked in the political realm . . . no, it
is also found in our daily lives. I do
not know about any of you, but the advertising world sure is putting the scare
in me . . . especially as I get older.
Being bombarded repeatedly by advertisements about one’s health, I am
beginning to fear that I might not be as healthy as I think I am. Pharmaceutical companies are working hard in
putting the fear of God in all of us with their constant advertising of each
and every little ache and pain that could be a symptom of a deadlier
illness. With such inundation of
information, I am amazed each morning that I even can make it out of bed. But fear sells products.
There is also all those advertisements
beyond health that focus on what Madison Avenue sees as a “in” person. By this I mean, the standards of
acceptability within our society . . . advertisers dictate that stuff to
us. What is that standard? Well, I can tell you by my age, by my
advanced looks and baldness, by the car that I drive, and clothes that I wear .
. . I am nowhere close to being in the “in” crowd . . . nowhere close to being
valued within society.
Research shows that what a society
values can be determined in what you see advertised on television and print . .
. what you see in entertainment. What do
you see?
This does not do much for our
self-esteem . . . pretty much at any age.
We all have a deep desire to be loved and accepted, but when the
standards—which are unrealistic—are what we see in advertisement and
entertainment, we become fearful that we are not desired or loved. Thus, we allow fear to dictate our lives in
the hope that if we can even come close to what we are seeing, we will be
accepted and love.
To live life in fear is no way to live
life. When life is lived in fear there
is no growth . . . there is no improvement or betterment . . . no fulfillment .
. . no control of one’s life or hopes or dreams. Only those who breed and spread fear for
their own gain get anything out of fear.
Fear immobilizes and keeps people from getting done what really needs to
get done. For the followers of Jesus
that is love. Love dedicated to
establishing God’s kingdom . . . re-establishing God’s family. Love dedicated to being in a relationship
with God just as God created us to be.
Love dedicated to living our lives to the best of our abilities as who
we are, not who the world tells us to be.
And, love dedicated to loving others . . . those around us, near and
far—our neighbors.
This cannot be done if we live our lives
in fear . . . fear based on rumors and lies . . . of what is supposedly yet to
come. No, it is based on the here and
now, and what can be done in the present moment. What can be done in love.
It is love, not fear that will sustain
us in the journey of faith. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt understood this in a time of crisis in our nation,
proclaiming: “. . . the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself . . .” Even more amazing was his solution to the
problem . . . neighborliness . . . love of neighbor . . . focusing on
relationship . . . plain ol’ love.
Whether Roosevelt even saw a connection between his words and Jesus’
teachings and action, we will never know.
But, we do know, nothing can be accomplished when life is lived in fear.
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