Crumbs for the Journey

What grants you such power?
What gives you authority?
What feeds your growth?
What does it take to prune you?
What will trap you?
How can your roots be contained?
How can you be kept in your own place?
What will prevent you from overtaking
The Garden of Life?

Fear
An invasive species
Not native to our kind
But present and pervasive, nevertheless

Fear
Of past pain and suffering
Returning with a vengeance
Of future loss
Of death of loved ones
Of conflict, violence and war.

Fear
Of sleeplessness
Of laziness
Of failure
Of redundancy and emptiness
Of illness and infirmity
Of financial struggles
of love, success and happiness.

Fear
Of loneliness and cold
Of heat and danger
Of cruelty and evil.

So much to fear
The list grows with the telling
But--does the telling shed light?

Fear
Grows unrestrained
In dark, secret corners of our beings
The roots sink into the rich compost 
of human frailty
Insidiously attacking and overtaking
Our roots of happiness, love, peace and meaning
Crowding out the fruits of the Spirit;
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
Casting dark shadows--obscuring our light.

Fear
From where comes your power?
What feeds you?
How can you be tamed?

Dare to open the doors of your heart
Open wide to the light of goodness, of love

Know, deep in your being, know
That there resides a seed of hope, of truth
Flickering always--ready to ignite to flame
God, by any name, residing within
the ever present Light of Love.

Quiet. . .      quiet the thoughts
Quiet. . .      Quiet the torment
Quiet. . .       quiet the steady stream of doubt.

Listen. . .      deep within the quiet
Feel. . .       the wisp of hope
the wisp of maybe
the wisp of the wings of love.

Stay there and feed your spirit
Nourish the soil of your soul
And the roots of fear
Will wither and retreat

Now, take hold of each branch of that fear
Pull it, roots and all, 
Out of the nurturing soil.
Look closely at the dis-empowered fear
See it for the limp, scraggle it is
cut off from its source.

Honor the suffering you have endured
The pain that has disconnected you from nutrients
The dark that hovered in the pain
And allowed the invader, fear , to take root.
Offer compassion to the self
Who suffered and withdrew
Applaud him/her for persevering
Despite hardship, loss, and pain.

With the power of your truth
Gather the weeds of worry,
the Vegetation of victim
Place them with care
In a steel walled, solid floored container
Give them no water, no fertilizer, no soil
Let them wither and shrink
Untended
Watch them lose their power.

Witness the fruits of your Garden of Life
As they prosper, flourish, and multiply
Breathe in deeply the beauty
Give breath to the flickering light
Allow your roots to take a deep and steadfast hold.


Pain and suffering will visit
Winds of change will blow
The freeze of winter will come.
Be at peace knowing
Your roots reach deeply into the well of life
Drink deeply and carry on
For fear can strangle you no more.