A Response to the Midterms and Fear

I carried a lot of fear into a recently completed five-day canoe trip in the Florida Everglades. Particularly of alligators and pythons, which reportedly lurked throughout the endless mangrove wilderness. Thankfully, they never showed up.

The anticipatory fear dissipated almost as soon as we hit the water. The reality of the situation, and direct engagement with the environment, dissolved my overblown projections.

Our group of five did see a skittering crocodile, some shark fins, surfacing dolphins, a leaping manta ray, a few sea turtles, and countless birds. What we couldn’t see were the no see-ums, nearly invisible insects which swarmed and feasted over any exposed body part. Their intrusion was mitigated by the mosquito net suits we all wore, and the insect repellent we applied. But their persistence and perniciousness still nearly drove us all to distraction.

There were several moments of concern and caution during the Everglades sojourn, which arose when the combination of wind, waves and tide made paddling nearly impossible. But that which generated fear was right there in front of me.  I could see it, and confront it; and its measure was much more manageable than the fear I brought on the trip with me.

I am writing this post three days after the midterm elections. The balance of power between Republican and Democrats in Congress has yet to be officially determined. But the fear that most of us carried into the election has not been borne out in the election results. A Red tsunami did not materialize. The fear that Republicans carried into November 8 was anchored in a worry that Democratic dominance would bring about more government intrusion into privacy, abandon morality, and usher in socialism. Democrats were fearful, should Republicans gain a dominant posture, of an escalation of autocracy, a refutation of truth and the proliferation of lies. Both sides were worried about the future of democracy.

There is indeed a need for concern and caution as we proceed as a Republic. Our democracy still feels fragile. But as I learned on my sojourn in the Everglades, anticipatory fear can generate projections that are out of whack with reality.  In our polarized political environment, there are forces and voices that get a lot of air (and stream) time that ramp up anticipatory fear — to the degree that we can easily dismiss one another.  Fear does create energy, which is what those forces and voices are eager to generate, but it is ultimately disempowering.

The winds and waves of distrust are real. We can see that. Most of us can feel that. Keeping our distance from one another just makes it worse.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to the country in his 1933 Inaugural Address, at the peak of the Great Depression.  His was not just a sound byte. Fear is stronger when it is anticipatory and undifferentiated. Fear eases when we confront that which we fear. When we face it straight on. “Fear not”, Jesus is recorded to have said — more than once.

Our postelection journey gives us the opportunity to move beyond our anticipatory fear — and build some relationships across difference; to listen with a more open mind — and to engage the heart in new ways.

The prevailing political culture says this is all a fool’s errand and a profound waste of time. In my experience, such an attitude is a very short step toward demonization.

Yes, it is important to be cautious. Yes, we need to be concerned. And most importantly, we need to dissect our webs of fear. The alligators that we are afraid might swallow us, and the pythons that we are afraid might squeeze life out of us, may not be lurking out there after all.

Recent Posts

Intellectual Scrutiny vs. Religious Expression

Intellectual Scrutiny vs. Religious Expression

“While in college, his Jesuit formation did not stand up to intellectual scrutiny.”  So said the introduction to my college’s new president in the Alumni magazine published several decades ago.  Intellectual rigor won out over religious expression.  Again. By the time...

Survival of the Fittest and Silicon Valley Bank

Survival of the Fittest and Silicon Valley Bank

Survival of the fittest is an adage that has long been planted in our psyches.  The phrase emerged as a terse summary of Charles Darwin's findings that the strongest and fittest of a species have the best chance of passing their genes on to the next generation.  The...

The World As it Is vs. the World As it Should Be

The World As it Is vs. the World As it Should Be

It is a tension that has confounded people for centuries:  ‘the world as it is’ vs. ‘the world as it should be’.   Most people make some commitment to doing something that will help bring about the world as it should be, but their commitment may falter, or may even be...

Pride:  a Refusal to Accept our Limitations

Pride: a Refusal to Accept our Limitations

I have not been one who has subscribed to the notion of original sin, which is the legacy Christians have inherited from Adam and Eve, whom the Judeo-Christian tradition have identified as the first man and first woman.  We meet them in the Garden of Eden, which is...

The Journey From the Ego to the Soul

The Journey From the Ego to the Soul

The fear mongers and the anger entrepreneurs are ubiquitous. Their messages — on air, screen or in print, are intended to arouse the ego and trigger a reaction. Fill us with resentment, indignation or fear. Concepts and issues that had once invited conversation are...

Intellectual Scrutiny vs. Religious Expression

“While in college, his Jesuit formation did not stand up to intellectual scrutiny.”  So said the introduction to my college’s new president in the Alumni magazine published several decades ago.  Intellectual rigor won out over religious expression.  Again. By the time...

Survival of the Fittest and Silicon Valley Bank

Survival of the fittest is an adage that has long been planted in our psyches.  The phrase emerged as a terse summary of Charles Darwin's findings that the strongest and fittest of a species have the best chance of passing their genes on to the next generation.  The...

The World As it Is vs. the World As it Should Be

It is a tension that has confounded people for centuries:  ‘the world as it is’ vs. ‘the world as it should be’.   Most people make some commitment to doing something that will help bring about the world as it should be, but their commitment may falter, or may even be...

Pride: a Refusal to Accept our Limitations

I have not been one who has subscribed to the notion of original sin, which is the legacy Christians have inherited from Adam and Eve, whom the Judeo-Christian tradition have identified as the first man and first woman.  We meet them in the Garden of Eden, which is...

The Journey From the Ego to the Soul

The fear mongers and the anger entrepreneurs are ubiquitous. Their messages — on air, screen or in print, are intended to arouse the ego and trigger a reaction. Fill us with resentment, indignation or fear. Concepts and issues that had once invited conversation are...

The Fault Line of Woke

There are some serious, if not dangerous, fault lines in American discourse these days.  Some have been around for decades – notably attitudes toward guns and abortion;  and we take care to avoid these issues or tread lightly around them in conversation with people...

The Disabling Debate on Freedom of Speech

Free speech, which most people in America recognize as a fundamental right, is undergoing endless and painful scrutiny these days.  What opinions should be allowed – or prohibited, on Facebook or Twitter?  When do stated certain political or religious convictions...

The Killing of Tyre Nichols: An Eruption of Violence

If you haven’t seen the video, you certainly have heard about the savage beating of Tyre Nichols, which led to his death,  murder charges brought against five Memphis police offers who carried out the atrocity, and their subsequent firing. Brutal, horrific, evil.  And...

The Confounding Paradox of the Gun Divide

In the wake of 40 mass shootings so far this January, I am struck by – and stuck on, some paradoxical statements that have echoes in different parts of the country.  The first, from Shannon Watts, who is the founder of Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention...

Dr. Martin Luther King: Joining Holiness and Justice

Our country pauses today to honor the memory and challenge of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We remember him as a prophet for civil rights who, throughout his public ministry, dared to bend the arc of history toward justice. But it didn’t start out that way.  As...
Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join my mailing list to receive the latest blog updates.

You have Successfully Subscribed!