Fear is not a moral failing. We live in a time when many suffer under its weight, and too often they are told their trembling is weakness, their hesitation is shame. Yet the truth is simpler, more human: fear comes to all of us. It rises when news breaks, when uncertainty stalks our steps, when something we cherish feels threatened. The real sign of character is not that we never fear, but how we act after it.
I want you to picture this: a calm river, swift in its course, carrying a small flame upon its surface. The water could drown it, the current could snuff it out, yet the flame holds steady, riding the flow. That is courage as care. Not the absence of fear, but the presence of a steady light that moves through the world without being consumed.
Naming Fear for What It Is
Fear comes roaring into our lives uninvited. It seizes the body before the mind has time to catch up. The pulse races, the breath shortens, the old instincts rise: fight, flight, or freeze. None of this makes you lesser. Fear is part of being alive.
But if we stay only in that reaction, we become trapped. In this time of social cocoons and filter bubbles, fear is magnified. Social media teaches us to wall ourselves off, to curate only what feels safe, to harden our hearts against one another. Authenticity becomes manufactured, and cynicism spreads like poison. We mock what we love, sneer at tenderness, and call compassion “cringe.”
The result is a culture that lives by fear’s script. We let outrage gather the crowd while love stands forgotten in the corner. We repeat what frightens us, but we forget to defend what we actually cherish.
From Reaction to Response
No one has ever frightened off a bear by cowering. Likewise, no society can withstand storms by shouting at the wind. Fear alone does not guide us; outrage alone does not sustain us. What matters is what comes after the fear.
Courage begins with a shift: the move from passive to active, from consuming to creating. We start small, by saying no more. No more letting fear dictate my choices. No more pretending that despair is the only honest response. No more waiting for someone else to build the world I long for.
Here, personal action is born. Journal it, pray it aloud, whisper it to the night sky: This is what I love. This is what I will defend. This is what I will build.
Faith without works is dead, wrote James. Belief without action is empty breath. The spark of courage is to begin.
The Path of Vocation
Under empire, most are told they have only jobs, only functions in the machine. But deeper down, every soul holds a vocation, a calling, a longing, a true work. We know it in our bones even when we cannot yet name it.
To face fear is not merely to endure; it is to turn toward this vocation. It may not come easy. It may require stripping away the false answers capitalism whispers: that joy comes from status, that meaning comes from consumption. True vocation is found not in profit but in passion, not in what you hate but in what you love.
Write it out. Let the pages bear witness: what does a good life mean to me? What matters enough that I would build it even in a time of storm? Courage is not simply gritting your teeth against danger, it is care made visible.
From Me to We
The empire has convinced us we are alone. The so-called “me generation” was trained in isolation, told that each person’s fate was their own burden to carry. But fear multiplies when it is locked in a single chest.
Courage grows when we remember the we. It begins personally, but it does not end there. We don’t need a savior from outside. We save us. It’s not me or you, it’s we.
Collective action is the river that carries the flame. History shows it again and again: rights were won because people banded together, refused to be silent, and built new contracts of life together. From the Magna Carta to movements for civil rights, the story is the same. Courage is communal.
What can this look like for us? It can be as simple as joining a group that aligns with your vision of good. It can be lending your voice, your art, your organizing, your cooking, your letters, your presence. Not everyone will write the pamphlet that sparks revolution, but each of us can be part of the chorus that keeps hope alive.
Building Beyond Cynicism
Yelling at the wind is not enough. We must plant shelters, build mutual aid, support the voices already speaking truth, defend the freedom of others to speak, and pour resources into the work that nourishes our communities.
Cynicism is cheap fuel. It burns fast and leaves only ash. Love, by contrast, is renewable. It feeds us as we feed it. Outrage may rally a crowd for a moment, but only love builds a world that endures.
Imagine again that river, swift and peaceful. Fear is the current, it will always run through life. But courage is the flame, steady on the water. Together we keep it alive.
An Invitation
So here is the invitation:
Begin with yourself. Say no more to fear’s reign. Claim what you love. Write it, pray it, act on it.
Step into your vocation. Let your life bear witness to what brings joy, healing, and meaning.
Then join the we. Plug into the movements already stirring, or build with others from the ground up. Let courage as care shape not just your choices but our common life.
We live in a fearful time, yes. But we also live in a time when the One Life flows through us, binding us together like the waters of a single river. Courage is how we tend that life. Courage is how we care.
The flame is in your hands. Place it on the river. Let it float. Let it carry you toward the world we are meant to make, together.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Alban Eilir
00:15 Personal Connection to the Holiday
01:12 Welsh Pronunciation Challenges
02:20 Understanding the Spring Equinox
05:23 The Significance of Angus and Songbirds
09:25 Dreams, Transformation, and Ceridwen
16:38 Eclipses and Liminal Spaces
21:01 Hope and Resilience in Nature
23:10 Celebrating the Equinox
25:09 Closing Thoughts and Blessings
