A Course in Miracles on Love (Ways of Practicing)

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"What is not love is always fear and nothing else." --A Course in Miracles

I have been thinking a lot about fear as I explore the topic of love.

So much of what stands in the way of love is fear. Fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, fear of intimacy, fear of joy.

We have been taught - in so many ways - to fear love that we can be paralyzed in the face of it. In the face of expressing it: telling someone how we feel, asking someone out, or even letting someone we are in relationship with know how important they are to us and in the face of receiving it: allowing someone to do something for us, graciously accepting a gift, or feeling worthy of the relationship that we really want.

If you believe, as I do, that all fear is at its core a fear of death, you can see why we are all so afraid of love. If we believe that the lack of love leads to death, that makes the stakes pretty high and many of us would rather circumnavigate this fear rather than face it, hoping to come up with something that is "close enough" and doesn't leave us vulnerable.

Here is something to try this week, also from A Course in Miracles: "I will not be afraid of love today."

Affirm each day that you will not be afraid of love and then mean it. Look for ways in which you protect yourself from love or the lack thereof and stop. Try to dwell in your fear and see if it dissipates or face your fear and see if courage shows up.

Whatever happens, try not to be afraid of love. 

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