Really there are only two feelings that a human being can have, namely love and fear. It is generally supposed that the kinds of feeling we may have are legion, but this is an illusion. All other feelings, so-called, will turn out upon analysis to be either love or fear.
What about anger? Well, anger is really but fear in disguise. In chemistry we occasionally find the same substance occurring under completely different appearances. For example, black lead is exactly the same substance chemically as a diamond, different as they look. They are said to be allotropic forms of carbon. In the same way, anger, hatred, jealousy, criticism, egotism, are but allotropic forms of fear.
Joy, interest, the feeling of success and accomplishment, the appreciation of art, are allotropic forms of love. The great difference between the two feelings is that love is always creative, and fear is always destructive. It is for us to decide which of these two feelings shall hold sway in our lives.
God is love; and he that dwelleth in God, and God in Him (1 John 4:16).
Whether it is love or fear we feel, the feeling itself is our choice. No one and no circumstance dictates how we feel. Of all the things in the world that we can not control, what we think and how we feel is totally under our control. Granted, there are circumstances in which is is extremely difficult not to give in to fear, and many in which it is equally difficult to feel love. Yet it is incontrovertibly true that we have a choice. It is equally true that without God’s help, strength and guidance, we will many times be unable to choose love when we want to fear.
When we turn to God and depend upon God’s power, we can and will overcome the circumstances that would otherwise overpower us on our own. When we think, speak and act according to God’s instructions, we will demonstrate love and live without fear. This may not eliminate that which could drive us to fear, but it will strengthen us to rise above it and exist in a place in which our faith dissipates our fear.
This place is the garden God created for us. When we trust God, obey God’s will and refuse to give in to fear, we can choose to live each day in our Eden with hope, peace and joy regardless of the fearful situations we face.
Choosing love,
Z gardener
Author’s note:We are blessed to be joined in the Good Morning Garden by a new group today. They are young men and women who put their faith into practice by doing good for others in Christian brother(and sister)hood. They are a credit to their faith, families and communities and will be for many decades to come. Welcome to the Garden brothers and sisters. May your presence here be a well-deserved blessing to you. It is to this author.
Z
Good Morning Garden 
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