Friday, July 27, 2012


Early one summer morning two young brothers were invited by their father aboard a small row boat.
The father eased the boat into the calm glass surface of the water and began to gently row as the boys sat side by side smiling on the forward plank. The only sound was the dipping and dripping of the oars as they slipped in and out of the lake and the occasional giggling of the brothers, excited to be sharing this unplanned journey.

Soon they had glided to the center of the lake where the father lifted the oars and let the boat coast to a silent stop.

Suddenly, the father grabbed either side of the boat and rocked it violently from side to side. The startled boys grabbed onto one another and screamed, begging their father to stop. Just as suddenly, he stopped.

“Were you boys scared?” he asked his children.

“Yes, yes, father” was the immediate reply in unison.

“Were you boys afraid?”

“Yes.”

“No. You were not afraid,” said the father. “And now I want you to listen carefully.”

The boys, somewhat calm again, listened.

“Being scared is a natural reaction to the unexpected. If you walked down a street and someone jumped out from behind a tree and yelled “Boo” you would be scared. You would re-act. When I suddenly began rocking the boat, neither of you expected it and you became scared.”

“But you were not afraid. Fear lives in the past or the future. If you were truly afraid, neither of you would have gotten into the boat to begin with. And if you were afraid now, you would be still bracing yourselves for fear that it might happen again. So always know that it’s ok to be “scared” but being “afraid lives in worry and regret, anticipation and remorse, yesterday and tomorrow. Be fearless today , now and always.”



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