Watching Point 319

319 — WATCH that you remember that fear is the fruit of the vine of which pride is the blossom. A little boy who runs away from home does so because he feels able to care for himself, and because he is determined not to submit any longer to the control of his parents. This pride, however, soon turns to fear, when night comes and he is hungry and cold.

Mortals accept the belief in separation from God as long as they feel adequate to care for themselves; but that pride soon bears the fruit of fear, when some circumstance arises that seems beyond their power to cope with.

Pride attends the birth of mortals, while fear surrounds their death. Pride says, “I can,” in contrast to the fear which says, “I can’t.” God says that neither of these is a statement of truth. The correct attitude is to know that all things are possible to the one who reflects Mind.

The Bible says that pride goeth before a fall. The skyrocket rises in the magnificence of resplendent beauty, only to fall, an empty burned-out shell. The penalty mortals pay for the supposed satisfaction of pride is the torment of fear. The belief of separation from God which comes through pride, soon turns to fear. Fear, therefore, is the schoolmaster which when correctly analyzed, teaches mortals the error of the belief of separation from God, and becomes a wholesome impetus for destroying this belief through the realization that in reality man has never been separated from God; so there is nothing of which man should be proud, and nothing for him to fear.