There is a line in Lesson 160 that says, “Fear is a stranger to the ways of love.” That idea carries the weight of something older than words. It is echoed through the pages of Scripture, where fear is consistently spoken of as something we were never meant to carry. In Psalm 27, we hear the psalmist declare that the Lord is his light and salvation, so whom shall he fear? That question carries more than poetry. It speaks of a spiritual truth remembered from deep within.
Lesson 160 calls fear a stranger. Which means that it doesn’t belong. It doesn’t come from within. It doesn’t arise from the heart. This teaching doesn’t portray fear as evil, but as misplaced. The real tragedy comes when we welcome it in and treat it as familiar, believing it has a rightful place.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks to the disciples before his arrest. He says that he is giving them his peace. Not peace as the world gives, but his peace. And then he says, let not your heart be troubled. Do not be afraid. (John 14:27.) It reads like an echo of the Course, though it came nearly two thousand years before. The peace Jesus offers doesn’t rely on circumstances. It remains steady when we remember who we are and where we dwell.
According to the Course, fear takes root when we lose sight of our true identity. When that happens, we come to believe we are separate, alone, vulnerable. Lesson 160 reminds us that the Self within us has never forgotten. The Self, as the Course describes, is the Christ in us. That part has never known fear. It lives in peace because it was born of peace.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, speaks of this remembering in another way. He says we did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. We received the Spirit of adoption. We cry out, Abba. Father. (Romans 8:15.) Paul speaks plainly here. He describes something real and already present, something that has always been true. Paul affirms what Lesson 160 reveals. You are not lost. You have never been cast out. What is true was simply forgotten.
To wake up is not about striving toward improvement. It’s about remembering that what matters has never been taken. The Course calls this a miracle. Scripture calls it grace.
Perfect love casts out fear. That line is found in the first letter of John. (1 John 4:18.) It describes how love and fear cannot occupy the same space. One fades as the other is remembered. The miracle, as Lesson 160 reveals, is that your true Self never welcomed fear in. That Self remains, waiting patiently within. Whole. Undisturbed. Steady in its invitation home.
This lesson doesn’t require us to conquer fear. It invites us to question whether fear belongs in us at all. It invites us to withdraw the welcome we once gave it. It invites us to remember what is true. You are not a stranger. You have always been at home in God.
🕊️ Reflection Questions
- Where have I felt like a stranger to myself lately?
- Is it in a relationship, a conflict, a pattern I can’t seem to shake?
- Might fear be playing the role of intruder there?
- What would it feel like to reclaim my place at home in God’s love?
- Can I allow myself to gently say, “This is my home. Here I belong”?
- Can I allow myself to gently say, “This is my home. Here I belong”?
- What foreign thoughts have I let take residence in my mind?
- Have I mistaken fear, shame, resentment, or unworthiness for who I am?