I love this picture which Leila Smith has used on her website for The Yoga Studio in Somerset and she includes very relevant teaching from Patanjali’s Yogasutras about non-violence.

http://www.theyogastudiosomerset.co.uk/journal/index.html

It seems such a hopeful picture in the face of such recent frightening events. But I think we probably are afraid often of what the future holds and the uncertainty that surrounds us in terms of both our physical environment and the uncontrolled aggression that seems so present in our very natures. For of course once all that anger is unleashed the potential for sadism is very serious. Carl Jung thought the best thing that we could do for the world was to own our projections – in other words to know ourselves both good and bad. And that’s along process and requires delving into the unconscious and all those places we would rather not think about in our psyches. For fear is born out of ignorance and so the more we know about ourselves and about each other the less frightened we will be and therefore also less violent. So not being afraid is to do with knowing ourselves and understanding our connection both with each other and with the earth.

And it is Jesus who reminds us over and over again not to be afraid and that requires faith.