“If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.” ~ Chief Dan George
George was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and spoke about living in harmony with all things quite often. It was only in striving to understand all things — nature, animals, people — that one could truly live in peace with one’s surroundings and circumstances.
The problem, George indicated, was in not knowing. If we do not know something or someone, we will face the danger of fearing that something or someone. I think about the quote today a day after we celebrated the feasts of Fabian and Sebastian, both of whom were martyrs in the early Church.
Christians were definitely not understood. They stood for things that were alien to a lot of the people. Their values and morals as well as their belief in One God made them suspect and feared. Even St. Paul feared the aberration that they represented and he sought to destroy them. It was with legal documents on his person giving him authority to arrest any Christian that he was confronted by God on the road to Damascus, met up with believers, came to understand them and God, and became a fearless Christian.
When we fear something, we will attempt to destroy it even if that something represents God, even if that something, someone, is God Himself. Don’t put yourself in the position of pitting yourself against God or others simply because you do not know or understand them and, therefore, have come to fear them.
God’s people, just like God Himself, are not to be feared. God shows us the way back to Him. God doesn’t want to lose us. Don’t lose Him.
FAITH ACTION: In prayer today, turn your fears over to God and ask Him to give you understanding and discernment.