Fear and False Security – Sunday, October 12, 1952
There are two extremes of attitude in which a man may find himself and which have always proved to be perilous. One is an overpowering sense of fear—and the other, a false sense of security.
Many a man has been paralyzed with needless fear on the one hand or has been betrayed by overconfidence on the other. The fact is that fear is often a worse enemy than any tangible foe. And what is true of physical fear is likewise true in matters of mind and spirit. A man may be held in check by a philosophy founded on fear, but under such conditions he does not grow in essential qualities of character.
Fear and threats may keep a person from the outward appearance of evil, but at the same time impede his progress in matters pertaining to the mind and spirit of man. The kind of person who develops by association with a father he loves is quite different from the kind of a person who is reared in association with a father he fears.
On the other hand, some of us feel too free from fear, and may feel that we can commit all manner of offenses, ultimately to be scolded a little, forgiven completely, and exalted magnificently, without punishment or penalty.
This attitude is as untenable as the one prompted by excessive fear, leading, as it does, to a dull conscience and a false sense of security. Some of our fears stem from lack of faith: “Our doubts are traitors,” wrote Shakespeare, “and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”1
Would that we could outlaw unreasoning fear on the one hand, and smug, false self-assurance on the other. *
*Revised.
1Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 1, sc. 4.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 12, 1952, 11:00 to 11:30 a.m., Eastern Time. Copyright,1952
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October 12, 1952
Broadcast Number 1,208