And We Lived!

TheDiscipleMD

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”
(FDR’s First Inaugural Address)

The thrill of being on our rooftop was exhilarating made more so by the fact that my father was the one who had hosted us up to explore. The back patio of our one story home provided a place where my Father could lift us up and usually with the help of a older sibling we could now be on “top of the world!” I was no more than seven, maybe six. And I lived!

I not only experienced the thrill of the view but I was keenly aware that I needed to be careful not to get too close to the edge least I fall. This didn’t stop me from venturing down towards the gutters of our house, but I did so by sitting down and scooting slowly down to the edge. I can still feel the thrill, and the danger. All of my siblings did the same. And we lived!

I was raised in the suburbs of Maryland just outside Washington D.C. during the sixties and seventies. I spent my summers exploring in the woods behind my house. My siblings and I battled snakes, bees, every insect imaginable as well as climbing tall trees without any safety ropes. Water Moccasin’s invaded our swimming hole on occasion and underwater sharp rocks occasionally cut our feet requiring medical attention. In those days “medical attention” was having your Mother pour iodine on your hurt that would kill anything that dared invade the wound. The cure was more painful than the cut! And we lived!

Once my brother and I were playing tag and he ended up putting both arms through the garage door window as the door clicked shut just before he pushed on it. His bloody arms required a trip to the emergency room and he still bears the scars on his arms to this day. I recall one of the neighborhood girls was there at the time, and she said to me, “My Mom tells me not to play with your family, you are too rough!” But we lived! (Although I must admit I wanted to kill that little girl!)

Times have changed but learning to overcome fear has not! We live in perilous times we say, but…it’s always been perilous times for mankind. The perils change but the courage to overcome has always been a hallmark of mankind.

Paul wrote, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

I trust in the resilient of the human spirit because I believe in the divine nature of its origin. When the rains decent upon us and the storm clouds are all we see, we can be assured that the rays of sunshine are still battling to shine through. And they will reappear! And as always, we shall live!

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