Bradley Hills Adult Education FEAR

Transcription

1 October, November, December In late October, Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church will convene a sixweek discussion on fear as it is understood by both religious and secular worlds, and as it is experienced by individuals, families, and communities alike. October 25 Understanding Fear A Scriptural View David Gray Pastor, Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church November 1 Understanding Fear A Secular View Curt West - Physician, Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences November 8 Addressing Fear Congregant Reflection An open discussion organized by and for the Congregation November 15 Experiencing Fear Keynote - Orienting Ourselves Peter Stearns University Professor and Provost Emeritus, George Mason University November 22 Experiencing Fear A Personal and Family View Congregants Panel December 6 Experiencing Fear A Community and Societal View Congregants Panel

2 October 25 On October 25, David Gray, Pastor, Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, will open a six-week Adult Education discussion of. His session directed to Understanding Fear a Scriptural View The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27 The Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands Psalm 112 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Mathew 10

3 November 1 On November 1, Curt West, Physician, Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Science, will lead an Adult Education discussion of. His session directed to Understanding Fear a Secular View What do we think about fear? It is argued that those of us in modern countries are more fearful than earlier generations. Some even say that we live in a culture of fear. Terrorists, Internet stalkers, crystal meth, avian flu, genetically modified organisms, contaminated food. And new threats seem to creep into our consciousness every day. Climate change, carcinogens, leaky breast implants, the obesity epidemic, pesticides, West Nile virus, SARS, avian flu, and flesh eating disease. And the list goes on and on. Newspapers and television feature journalists, activists, politicians, economists, corporate executives, military officers and consultants warning us of something (all to often imminent doom). And, of course, we live with age-old fears of disease and death, income and poverty, for our parents and our children, for our country and culture, of the other.. How do we best understand fear? What can science tell us?

4 November 8 On November 8, Congregants that have attended the opening sessions, or plan to attend the following sessions, will gather to exchange thoughts on their understandings of fear, how best we might address the sessions on experiencing fear, and hopefully identifying members that might be willing to serve on Congregant panels for those later sessions. Addressing Fear Congregant Reflections Science says that the music of birds arose out of the bird s trepidation in the early morning of light. It took ages before this note of terror in bird song melted into the ecstasy of the lark and the rapture of the nightingale. Medicine began in the exorcism of the dreaded evil spirit in man, and altars were first built because the powers of the earth and sky were unknown and dreaded. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.. Minneapolis Journal, reprinted by the NYT 1920

5 November 15 On November 15, Peter Stearns University Professor and Provost Emeritus, George Mason University, will kick-off the second half of the Adult Education discussion of. His session directed to Experiencing Fear Keynote - Orienting Ourselves Dr. Peter N. Stearns is Provost Emeritus and Professor of History at George Mason University. Professor Stearns has written widely on world history, including American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety. Before coming to George Mason, Professor Stearns taught at the University of Chicago, Rutgers University, and Carnegie Mellon University. He is also founder and editor of the Journal of Social History. Professor Stearns will discuss American fear. His thesis will be that, for several reasons, many Americans have developed an unusual openness to fear and an unusual at least by the standards of some other societies or those of the nation s own past willingness to seek to voice fears and to try to use fear in motivation. His presentation will include a broader contextual picture to include questions about the history of fear more generally, at least in Western society. This discussion is invited by a series of recent works on this key emotion as well as by the need to put particular cases, such as the United States, in a clearer comparative context.

6 November 22 On November 22, a Congregants Panel will reflect on personal fears. The Panel will include: Experiencing Fear a Personal and Family View Is fear holding you back? How would you live if you had no fear at all? Our Panel will open the discussion with this question. You would, of course, still have your intelligence and common sense to safely navigate around any real dangers, but without feeling the emotion of fear, would you be more willing to take risks, especially when the worst case wouldn't actually hurt you at all? Would you speak up more often, talk to more strangers, dive headlong into those ambitious projects you've been dreaming about? What if you even learned to enjoy the things you currently fear? What kind of difference would that make in your life? With insights from the Congregants Panel, participants will be able to explore a wide range of personal and family fears. Drawing on the scriptural, scientific and cultural/historical discussions that precede this session, it is the hope of the Adult Education Committee that participants will be able to build on insights from the discussion, perhaps find people with whom to follow-up after the session, and most definitely find new ways to navigate among and between faith, knowledge and history in addressing personal and family fears.

7 December 6 On December 6, a Congregants Panel will reflect on personal fears. The Panel will include: Experiencing Fear a Community and Societal View Collective fears are not the sum of individual fears. Risks perceived as threatening society as a whole may lead to collective fears. Some 'big issues' favor the development of collective fears: an uncertainty of the future turned into a fear of disaster; technological progress and the major risks it brings; a sense of insecurity; threats to the future of the planet and of humanity; and a spread of diseases; among others. Some contemporary events trigger fears, such as the debt crisis in Europe and the threat of another economic recession and as we are seeing in the political discourse, a fear of the other. Our aim is to discuss expressions of fear in community and societal contexts, dealing with fears that challenge our emotions and intellect. We live with uncertainty. Which are the strategies and mechanisms used by groups or societies to reduce fear, to face it, to cope with it, to overcome it? What does this suggest for Bradley Hills as a Presbyterian Church community?

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