The Man Named Fear by Jim Yackel

Without trepidation we carry forward along this path, out-pacing the man named Fear. We will not entertain fear as he is an ungracious guest who carries in his backpack cockroaches that will infest the
cupboards and piping of our deepest thoughts and of our spirit. No, we cannot allow him to follow us home!

This man named Fear lurks in the bushes and as he pants we can see the mist of his breath in the cold, fading daylight. He can masquerade as a wolf to maximize the fright factor, or he can pitter-patter around our feet as the pusillanimous black rat in order to revile us. Indeed, this man named Fear is a master of disguise and the embodiment of all lies.

He will tell us everything we want to hear, but we cannot listen to the ting of the pearls dropping from his silver tongue. Indeed my new friend, he will soften you up with flattering words and deceptive religiosity that convinces you that YOU are a god, and once you have swallowed the bait he will swallow you whole like the Venus Flytrap swallows the unthinking fly.

The stones of the railroad bed crunch under our feet as we look over our shoulders and see the distant headlight of the approaching CSX freight. We've walked along the tracks and over the bridges that carry us over creeks filled with Bass, Trout, Suckers and Freshwater Drum; but as much as we love trains we know that we must veer left and go back to the path - knowing that the man named Fear lurks amongst the thistles, sumac, and blackberry bushes. The way back to the path means trekking through swamp and burdock, but it must be done as it is the only way home.

Still, we must contend with the man named Fear...

He is a wolf and then at once a rat. He is the cockroach and the wasp. He is bat and he is man, but he is not the Caped Crusader. No, children, he is the father of lies. He is none other than the man named Fear.

The Word is your only hope. In the beginning was the Word; before there was the man named Fear. You can choose the way you walk, and bowing to the man of fear may lead to gold today but I must warn you it is but fool's gold!

The briars, brambles, and swamp that lay between the railroad bed and the dirt and gravel path will cut you and make you bleed, but remember my love that the Word bled first...

The only thing that the man named Fear is frightened of is blood...the crimson, purifying blood that is the Word. It is this word that will force the man named Fear to lurk in the bushes and not on the pathway home.