Most people can rattle off a few of the classic “seven deadly sins”, although few can name them all. According to Wikipedia, that Font of All Imperfect Knowledge (or FAIK), they were codified by Pope Gregory I in 590 AD. They are:

• Pride
• Greed (or my preferred rendering: Avarice)
• Wrath
• Envy
• Lust
• Gluttony
• Sloth

It’s been said that envy is the only one in the list that has no upside. The others can be kind of fun to wallow in, for a little while anyway. That’s one problem with the list. The other, more troubling one, is that it no longer resembles a list of faults or transgressions. Rather, it reads like a job description for POTUS. (Seriously, look at that list and make the comparison yourself. It’s one thing to perpetrate those transgressions. It’s a whole ‘nother to brag about them.)

For a very long time, I’ve believed the list to be incomplete. There’s one I fall victim to as do most people I know, to our and society’s detriment.

Fear

Yup, I think fear might be the deadliest sin. For those who, like me, take their standards from the Christian Bible, you’ll find the pages there replete with exhortations to overcome fear or avoid it altogether. Here are a few:

• “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Jehovah, as recorded in Joshua 1:9
• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus, in John 14:27
• “…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” St. Paul, in 2 Timothy 1:7
• “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” St. John, the Beloved Disciple, in 1 John 4:18

And the grandaddy of them all, Psalm 23:

• “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”

In fact, I once did an audit of the entire Bible in order to determine what the most common command in Scripture is. I can’t remember the exact order, but “fear not”, or some variation thereof, was first or second.*

Here are a few more excellent quotes that affirm the truth of the above:

• “Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
• “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson (not Nelson Mandela, as some claim)
• “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – this one is Nelson Mandela
• “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life.” – John Lennon (I wonder if he knew he was merely paraphrasing St. John.)
• “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato

Avoid this deadly sin, probably your elected leader’s greatest one, and the rest of the list becomes a whole lot easier. And less frightening.

Fear not…

* For the curious among you, the other charge was some form of “Go.” Combine those and you have something to think about. And do.