Fear/caution and worry/concern

[Shadow Phoenix]

I have my own theory about this, but I'd like some other input. How exactly would one differentiate between fear and caution first off, for instance:

I used to fear flying on a plane. That is irrational as so few actually go down. THen I flew on a plane and the fear was gone.

Caution on the other hand. Example:

I am walking somewhere at night and see an alley and looking down it, I see some dark shapes within that I cannot make out. I do not have to go that way and choose to go another way. I do not think being fearless means throwing yourself into every possible dangerous situation.

Also, worry and concern.

Take this instance and then let's see how we can find the difference. A friend of mine sends me a message to please pray for them. They're having some pain and going to the hospital for some tests.

Now, concern leads me to naturally pray for them and hope that all goes well. At what point would my concern become worry?

I think both of these are relevant as Jesus tells us to not worry and we are told to be anxious for nothing. Also, one of the most oft repeated commands in the Bible is "Fear not."

Any thoughts?

[James Peter]

"There is no fear in love, perfect love drives out all fear" (1 John 4:18)

On the basis of that I would suggest that any action that originates in love cannot be an act of fear. In a similar vein I would suggest that concern is an act of love whilst worry is not. In fact worry could probably be described as an act of fear. So, love stands opposed to fear (or more accurately agape is opposed to phobos, 'fear of the lord' can originate in love and is not opposed to it). To act in love is to act boldly and unafraid.

Perhaps that is simplistic as love can cause us to fear but perhaps such love is not 'perfect'.

[NeilUnreal]

There is a Buddhist saying that for summarizes the difference between concer and worry. It goes something like this:

"If a problem can be solved, why worry about it? And if a problem cannot be solved, worrying about it does no good."

-Neil