Tomorrow the world is going to end. I am so excited. I’ve got bills due that I’d rather not pay, and also, now I won’t have to strain a muscle while losing the five pounds I planned on adopting during the holidays. . .

Many of us are afraid, afraid of what has happened in recent days and of what might happen tomorrow (any tomorrow).

Fear is a fugly disease. It is so because it paralyzes the soul, which is bad because within the soul reside the energizing foods of our existence, like creativity, love, and charity. We are all of us afraid, everyday of something, and living beyond fear is a choice we make, not once but always, like choosing to be faithful to a spouse.

But fear is contagious.

Misery loves company, so too do people bound by fear long for companions. They wish to see others be afraid to walk out the door, to send their kids to school, to wake up tomorrow morning. Nothing but a colossal sledgehammer, or, say, a meteor, could better break our world apart than the wilful sharing of fear.

Gandhi said, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

Nor should any of us. Because when life does require us to be brave, to stand up for what is right, God forbid our souls be paralyzed by fear.

Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, combat fear and its fallout with what is just and kind.

And enjoy (because as bleak as the days may seem, we are still allowed to do this) – life.