Fear or Love

We don’t often think of fear as the antonym of love—hate is the word that usually comes to mind. (In fact, my blog posting of 8/17, titled “Love & Hate”, looks at them as antonyms.) I was recently shown that fear and love can be seen as opposites, especially in the context of thoughts. Thoughts filled with fear are quite different from thoughts filled with love—but it’s the subsequent conflicting actions that really matter.

To a large extent, our actions are guided by our thoughts. If my head is full of negative thoughts, I’m likely to act negatively. If I’m thinking positively, I’m more likely to do positive things. Buddhist teachings express this quite well (in the very first verse of the Dhammapada):

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

Suffering follows evil thought. Joy follows pure thought.

So getting back to fear versus love, loving thoughts are certainly positive, joyful thoughts. Those who we regard as saints and sages had their minds pretty full of loving thoughts. My best examples are people like Jesus, the Buddha, Gandhi, Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day (who started the Catholic Worker Movement). Although I doubt that love filled their heads all the time, their actions were certainly mostly positive.

I discovered a Bible verse a few years ago that also describes it very well for me: “Love has no fear.” (1 John 4:18) I interpret this verse to mean that when love fills our heart and mind, there is no room for fear. Certainly the people I listed above, with minds filled with love, lost all fear and became centered, purposeful, and capable. They were better able to see the truth and act lovingly... with joy.

When we feel fearful, however, we feel disconnected from others. We are suspicious and mistrustful, and are far more likely to commit acts of harm and violence. If I see enemies surrounding me—fearing them and what they might do—I posses a literal form of mental illness that can drive me to commit hateful acts. Rather than perceive evil-doers as “bad guys,” I find it more useful to see them as people who’ve had fear take over their minds.

Fear is gripping the collective mind of America today. We see terrorists around every corner. We live in gated communities, turn our civil liberties over to Homeland Security, and build fences along our borders. Is there not a connection between public fear and the military actions we’ve initiated in the Middle East?

Feeling that there is an opposition between love and fear, I find it useful to try to cultivate loving thoughts—knowing that the more I do, the less room I have for fearful thoughts. More positive actions will naturally follow. The task of replacing fear in the American public’s mind with love, however, is a formidable task. We can hope that small, individual actions of love will somehow add up.