WHEN the beloved disciple wrote, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love," he may have recalled many memorable occasions when his dear Master met and overcame fear with perfect unfaltering love. "Fear not" and "Be not afraid" are words which frequently occur in the Gospels; for the spiritual dominion which Jesus exercised over all human fears made him the great healer, enabling him to command the surging elements of mortal mind, including disease, passion, cruelty, dementia, tempest, and the dread belief in death. His quiet "Peace, be still," banished these evils and in a moment brought into manifestation calm and harmony.
The essential nature of false belief suggests fear, even before the error has formulated itself in thought. How could it be otherwise, when the truth is reversed in belief, and unsubstantial, unreliable errors usurp the place in consciousness rightfully held by the verities of Truth and Life?
Man being immortal, and there being no element in the spiritual universe that can be destroyed, how is it that mortals seem to dwell in a sad state of fear from the cradle to the grave, looking for trouble in every direction, and starting at every suggestion of evil? Surely, it is only because of the mesmeric belief that spiritual man has fallen into a mortal sense of existence! This error haunts one's path until a breath of divine Love blows away the illusion; then, as a child awakening from a dream at the voice of a loving parent, so may one awaken spiritually. Also, as the child cares not where the dream came from but knows that it is gone forever, so one need not ask where his fears came from, or where they have gone to: he is awake; he feels divine Love around him; and that is enough.
