I spent some time last night writing about what really scares me when it comes to writing. I am starting to realize that for me, the best scares in fiction are when the line between fiction and reality is blurred. However, outside of writing, when I think about what really scares me, I worry about the things I take for granted being taken away from me.
For example, all my life I have lived in the United States and for better or for worse, it has always been a democratic society. Yet around January 6th, many people questioned the stability of our democracy. Some people thought that the democratic election process wasn’t done properly. While others were worried that those who didn’t agree with the election results would destroy the very democracy that I have lived in all my life. The worse part is that I still worry. It’s not like January 6th came and went, and now it is all over. It isn’t over.
Instead, I know that some of the things like democracy that I took for granted could very easily be destroyed and it’s scary because I don’t know what will be left in the aftermath. There are only two things I can take away from this situation. First, I need to understand and be more aware of some of those things that I was taking for granted. I should be thankful for them and hold them dear in my heart. Second, I can’t live with this worry that something will be stolen or taken from me. Every day I watch the news and the stories and reports makes me think about that very worry. Sure I always thought if I lose all my tangible things, it would be difficult and I would have a struggle dealing with it, but God would get me through it. Yet this situation makes me realize there are intangibles as well. When I think that they can be stripped away, too, it is scary and makes me angry. I realize that they are also fleeting and in the big picture, they don’t really mean as much as I feel that they do. I need to remember to give that worry up to God. For really, in the end, others can take away everything from me, they can hurt me, and they can even kill me, but they can’t take away my love, my faith, or my God. Do I really need anything else?
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
