Scary. What is it?

“Are you scared?” he asked.

“Of you? No, I’m not scared of you.” I responded in a calm, almost friendly way like we’d known each other for some time. He was a youth sitting on the curb corner, near my house.

I wasn't afraid of him, but I think he thought I would be. To the media, to the authorities there is much reason to be afraid of one another, nowadays. There was a fatal shooting this weekend, just a few blocks from my house.

This interaction got me thinking. What is it that makes people afraid of each other? What characteristic or action makes someone scary? 

Well, I don’t think God creates anyone that is scary. Quite the opposite really—I believe we are all made in the image of God; all of us, each one.

But I do know for a fact that society creates scary people, by labeling them scary. I think it’s the afraid people that label the ‘scary’, scary. When in turn, the ‘scary’ people are just scared and afraid, too.

So, what makes someone afraid?

Some initial thoughts: A person feels scared or afraid…

•  If they feel threatened; their life, their loved ones, their property, their resources. 
•  If they feel alone, singled out, picked on or picked out. 
•  If they feel trapped or obstructed in some way. 

The list could continue...

With some of the recent events in our news, in our neighborhoods, even in our homes…I think it is cause for us to really examine how we view, how we treat, how we relate to one another—especially those that are “so different” from us. To identify the ways in which we have been consuming the labels society has been selling to us, about each other. And to re-orient our lives in such a way that we determine for ourselves; one person at a time, one name at a time, and one relationship at a time how we want to be towards each other.

I don't believe people like being afraid. But I do believe people like being known.
Maybe we should start there.