Dentist Dogma

A friend of mine recently had a run-in with a fundamentalist Christian at her dentist's office. The woman badgered my friend about her spiritual quest, the questions she was willing to ask out loud, and the channels she sought to find answers. Aside from being pissed off that this woman and I share the title Christian, I was moved to examine more closely the subject of fear. I sincerely believe fear was this woman's problem, or should I say her motivation, for rejecting my friend's spiritual leanings. I thought about my own fear: fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of time, fear of loss, fear of loneliness... On bad days I let fear determine how I interpret the world, what I won't say, who I can't forgive. I let fear turn people into enemies. God, I knew she didn't like me. I let fear turn me against my body. My thighs are fat and ugly. Fear immobilizes me and makes me into my own roadblock.
I have heard it said that the only true motivations for things are love and fear. Just those two. I know this isn't news, but I think it is still a radical idea: love is the answer. The Bible says it's money, but I think that must be a poor translation. Love. Love of self, of others, of nature, of god, of change, of questions, of answers, of peace, of doughnuts...whatever. I think if we could act out of love. I mean...forgive all the mush in this entry...but God(dess), if we could use love as our motivation just 5% more than fear...if we could be so brave as to do that, I believe it would mean freedom for us. It would mean heaven...or at least much nicer trips to the dentist.
I stand in solidarity with my sister, the woman who couldn't see past her dogma into my friend's beautiful spirit. I stand with her, arm in arm, because although I would like to cut her off, to distance myself and say, "I am nothing like her. I hate that we share the same title"--although I would like to show how much better I am, how much more I have figured out-- The truth is I am like her. Like her, I have to choose every day, many times a day, if I will act from love or fear. And on bad days, like her, I choose fear. We all do, I'm guessing. So it is not a matter of her or me, the fundamentalist Christian versus the secular one. It is not a matter of her or my friend, the traditional seeker versus the non-conventional one. It is a matter of One People with two choices: love and fear.