There Is No Fear

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. – 1 John 4:18 (NIV)

Love is such a novelty, a rarely painted masterpiece.

A place few people go or ever know.

An underwater rocket love- exactly what I'm searching for.

You're brave enough to go? Tell me so.

Say you'll go to Nirvana. Will you leave Samsara?

In the words of Dhammapada: Who will lead? Who will follow?

Our love will sail in this ark. The world could end outside our window.

Let's find forever and write our name in fire on each other's hearts.

– “Say You’ll Go”, Janelle Monae

 I had a conversation with someone who has become very special to me last night. I shared a shared a prayer I’d been praying concerning them. Recognizing that it’s all about purpose, my prayer was that God allowed them to gain greater perspective in their walk with Him and so that God’s purpose for our interactions would be clear to us and as effective as possible. Though I may have desires on what I’d like that to be, I realize that what I want doesn’t have anything to do with what God plans for me to have. And I am not afraid of whatever that is.

Why?

Because there is no fear in love.

and God is love.

Therefore, there is no fear in God.

When God brings something into your life, He’s only bringing more of Himself.

I went to bed with an assurance that my prayer would yield more love, more Him- regardless the design. And, amazingly, when I saw the sun this morning, I welcomed the biggest smile I could. It was something about seeing that particular portrait of Heaven that told me more love was on the way and I had absolutely nothing to fear.

And after hearing Janelle Monae, I believed it.

Today, I experienced how beautiful love sounds when it’s set to music. It is majestic. I smiled. I believed. And as soon as she said “Love is such a novelty- a rarely painted masterpiece”, I cried. I mean I cried. My heart began to bleed for people who don’t know what it means to love- to have the love of God, self, community, humanity….ecology. People are suffering when they don’t have to be. And it takes a great deal to decide you’ll stop hurting- which underscores Janelle’s desire.

Say you'll go to Nirvana. Will you leave Samsara?

In the words of Dhammapada: Who will lead? Who will follow?

Our love will sail in this ark. The world could end outside our window.

Let's find forever and write our name in fire on each other's hearts.

In Eastern religions (particularly Buddhism), Nirvana, Samsara and Dhammapada are the equivalent of the Christian’s Heaven, Hell and the Word of God. In essence, she’s asking if we believe experiencing freedom is worth ending suffering, with only love to sustain us and endure.

You can’t possess love and be afraid to share it.

You can’t desire love and be afraid to receive it.

You can’t crave freedom and be afraid to embrace it.

You can’t request purpose and be afraid to realize it.

You cannot be afraid.

There can be no fear in love.

There can be no fear in God.

That doesn’t mean love won’t hurt. It does. It is not easy. But even in that, God allows our pain to be productive and manufacture higher and necessary dimensions of love in order to be what we need and who we need to be.

If it’s even possible, my smile is bigger and brighter.

I am not afraid.

I am not afraid.

I am not afraid.



©Candice Marie Benbow, 2010

Introduce Me To Love

We are living in some very interesting times. While fighting two wars, internationally, one is brewing within our own borders. It seems that every day we receive breaking news of a disaster, either natural or man-made, that claims the lives of many and leaves more destitute. We face the dawn with great uncertainty. Will we have jobs by the end of the day? Will we have homes by the end of the week? Will we even live to see tomorrow? These are questions people ask daily and the answers frighten them.

My friend Anna called me Thursday with an epiphany. She was quitting her job, moving to Ghana and minimizing the “wants” in her life so that she could be of greater service to others. Then she said something that I’m still wrapping my mind around this very minute. She said “Candice, I need to be more productive with my life. I need to love more.” On the surface, one would say Anna’s delusional; she’s highly educated and has a job with great occupational prestige. Why would she give that up? Isn’t that what we all strive toward?

As much as I appreciate my friend’s intention to embrace a life of which she could be proud, it was her confession that she needed more love in her life that swept me away. Grant it, she and I are both single and look forward to the day when we’re paired with our forever, but that wasn’t the love that moved Anna to awakening. This representation of God’s love realized that she was lacking it in her own life. And to possess and personify love, Anna would do anything. Even move a thousand miles away.

But isn’t that what we need? Marianne Williamson called it “a return to love” but I think some of us need to be introduced to it first. Do we really know love? If we did, would we be comfortable placing ourselves in situations that undermine our potential and greatness? Have we ever met love? If we have, why didn’t the encounter cause us to incorporate more of it in our lives? Love is not some tangible or sometimes unexplainable emotion that is felt between two people. It is the highest sense of self.

It is love that causes me to speak for people who will never know their voice has been silenced.

It is love that enables me to avail myself as a vessel through which I pour into others and allow them to pour into me.

It is love that permits me to be the greatness my dreams are incapable of envisioning I can become.

This world is moving too fast and is becoming too ugly. The beauty of love makes life bearable. I, like my friend, need more of it. We all do. Until we are willing to do what it takes to become acquainted with love, we are not living. It can be as simplistic as seeing the best of myself in the worst of man and loving it into light. It can be as complicated as seeing the best of myself in the worst of myself and loving it into light. Regardless of the direction, love is the necessary path.

Though it will be some time before Anna is physically in Ghana, her spirit is already there. She loved herself enough to set herself free. If only we all were as courageous. For it is in that moment of courage when we shake the hand of the future and greet it with anticipation’s smile.


©Candice M. Benbow, 2010