We know that each kind of passion has an important place in human life. Contrary to the ‘Stoic’ position, passions are not simply to be squashed or set aside. But discovering and enacting the proper place of passions is anything but straightforward. Thomas Aquinas offers a very helpful insight on a passion we must deal with every day: fear.

How we deal with passions is complicated (though in a way that is ultimately wonderful) by the fact that a central feature of the moral life is training how we feel them in the first place. But here let us set aside this important issue (which calls us to consider how to work toward making our fears be more ‘rational’ or ‘reasonable’) and focus on how we respond to the fears we experience.

Aquinas writes, “Aristotle says in his Rhetoric that fear makes a person take counsel.” From the context it is clear that Aquinas and Aristotle mean that fear should make a person take counsel. To take counsel is to turn to someone wise for assistance in our deliberation about how to act.

This is excellent advice. Fear is a natural prompt for us to look for help—help in doing that which is at the heart of human life: deliberating about how to act. This applies in many even if not all instances of fear. Obvious examples are fear about how better to serve my spouse, or raise my children, or discern my vocation, or perform well in my profession. Rather than simply suffering (we might even say ‘stewing’) in my fear, I can take fear as a prompt to find an appropriate person to think with me about the situation.

This can also apply in instances of fear about things not directly in our control, such as growing old, bad weather, safety of loved ones, the decay of society, or international unrest. While we don’t take counsel about how to ‘solve’ such issues, we can take counsel about how to think about and approach them. And in these things how we think about and approach them can make all the difference.

Surely discerning with whom to take counsel is important. But for starters we have here a very practical starting point: take fear as a prompt to take counsel. Here fear can show itself an astounding gift; it reveals an amazing natural plan that I take counsel, regularly, in how to live my life.

Obviously I must be balanced in this. It is not that I cannot make any move without ‘checking with’ others. An appropriate self-reliance is in order. But the truth is that the nature of human flourishing demands that we seek it under appropriate tutelage. This is not a sign something is wrong. In fact, it means something is very right.

Regarding to whom to turn, we can note two further points from Aquinas. Following the above quotation, he indicates the first place we should turn. “When one is hesitant about what he should do, he ought to turn to God.” What at first can seem an obvious but not so helpful point might actually be game-changing for us. Do I really turn to God for wise counsel? Aquinas immediately quotes Psalm 120, “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains from whence will come my help.” I realize that I don’t consistently lift up my eyes, even when experiencing fear.

And then of course there is also turning to wise men. In another place Aquinas says it is the mark of a wise man not to over-estimate the worth of his own judgments. So the wise, at least, turn to the wise for help in deliberating. Surely this is not simply a plan ‘B’ if turning to God doesn’t work. Somehow, the two ‘turnings’ go together… once again, by a beautiful plan we never could have designed.

So teach me, Lord, how to act in my fears, and even benefit from them. Give me the courage to lift my eyes, and to turn to those to whom I should turn. ~ ~ ~

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John Cuddeback

Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.