A Sixth Sense Wish

Dr. Malcolm Crowe looks at Cole Sear, who is just a little boy, and asks him to think about something he wants. Cole replies, "instead of something I want, can it be something I don't want?" Dr. Crowe agrees. And Cole immediately answers,

"I don't want to be scared anymore."

In the beginning of 'The Sixth Sense,' you know something isn't right with Cole. He's quiet and frail, almost like you could snap him in two. He talks about a secret he has and doesn't think anyone can help him. But as you keep watching and Cole's secret is revealed, he stops becoming this weird little kid and you start seeing him as someone living PARALYZED IN FEAR.

And the one thing he wants is to stop living in that fear. Dr. Crowe realizes that the only way to stop being afraid is to stop running away. To turn around and help them. To make the choice to not be afraid. To be set free.

Cole lives in the fantasy world of M. Night Shyamalan, dead people, and Bruce Willis. But I think his wish to not be scared anymore is something I resonate with. Who wants to live in fear?

We live with what seems to be so much uncertainty. We've got things that we're afraid of : can I afford school, will my house sell, will I ever find a husband who will embrace my weirdness, will I continue to live in good health, am I doing what God's called me to do, am I where God's called me to be? Fears and doubts and uncertainties can swirl and twirl around us that it's hard to see through the fog. Fear is such an impulsive reaction.

Sometimes I want to stand on a chair in the middle of a crowded room and scream Cole's wish : I DON'T WANT TO BE SCARED ANYMORE!! I don't want to run when I feel something scary, I don't want to cry when I think about facing something, I don't want to live paralyzed in fear!! And I imagine after screaming that with my hands in the air, the crowded room turns and looks at me.. and slowly start climbing on their chairs and yelling 'me too! me too!' And we're all joined together by the common thread that we're all not afraid anymore. Wouldn't that be amazing?

(I don't need a crowded room.. I've got this blog).

In reading through the Psalms, Chapter 32 verse 7 says, "You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." I CLING to a God who is just that : a hiding place, a preserver, someone who envelops me in deliverance. Someone who sets me free. A God who says, "Lindsay, stop running. Loosen up! I saved you : I got you: I love you : Don't you remember?"

And from my view on top of my chair, I remember.

"Everything is safe which we commit to the Lord, and nothing is really safe that is not so committed." - AW Tozer