Fear Is A Prison

A community leader came to see Jacob, hoping to find peace of mind, and ease for his burden. The man was troubled by a repetitive dream that he did not understand.

“Jacob in my dream, I have travelled a long distance and finally arriving at a great city. But, at the entrance to the city, I am met by a tall soldier who says I must answer two questions before I am admitted: Will you help me?”

Jacob nodded.

“The first question the soldier asks is: ‘What supports the walls of a city?’”

“That is easy,” said Jacob. “Fear supports the walls of a city.”

“But what supports the fear?” asked the man. “For that is the second question.”

“The walls,” answered Jacob. “The fears we cannot climb become our walls.”

                                               – JACOB THE BAKER, Noah benShea

I wrote this story over 30 years ago.

And I am now no longer young enough to know everything.

And surely the truth is a tale told from many sides.

And this is what I have witnessed.

Human beings are more inclined to build walls than to take them down.

So, let us ride the horse in the direction it is going.

Let each of us build a very high wall in ourselves to fence out our fears, our ignorance, and our lesser selves.

And let us do this to be sure our self-terrorizing doubts don’t slay the best in us waiting to be born or cowering in the shadows. Heroism isn’t the absence of fears but how we wrestle with our fears.

– Noah benShea