Fear

What is fear but the absence of comfort and confidence? Why does it mean so much to us and why can this feeling paralize our bodies and weaken our minds? Perhaps it's because fear is something that is felt by everything no matter if it has a heart or not.  It is a universal emotion that unites everyone and everything. No matter how tough and hardened the criminal is, fear will always be felt. People like to act all tough and fearless but that is only their insecurity speaking. You can't deny fear. It will always be there. The best that we humans can do is decide to ignore it and push on anyway. Forget our own feelings and keep going because in the end, it will be worth it.

Interesting

“The black sheep, a sore thumb, the ugly duckling – all things which notoriously stick out and don’t quite fit in, and to such a list one may add the name of Richard Hartman, a Baptist Pastor in Rexburg, Idaho.” (pg 94, I Think)

What an interesting way to open anything, whether a book, speech or paper. The title of this paper is “A Baptist in Zion: Life Through the Eyes of Religious Minorities.” You can only assume that they will be talking about this Baptist, Hartman, and how he “doesn’t quite fit in” as the opening line states. But the part that snags me is everything before the dash; the first nine words. Each of us know what those things have in common and the different stories behind each of them, especially if that sore thumb is ours or we believe to ourselves to be the ugly duckling or black sheep in the family. There is always someone out of place and more often than not, we believe that to be ourselves no matter how “in place” we are. This first sentence, especially the first part, appeals to our human nature and therefore draws us in with curiosity and a need to identify with others like us in some way.