Fear

There is this old story of a village that was once struck down by an outbreak of cholera.  Many people died and many were left in grief and sorrow.  One day a villager met the Cholera Goddess and asked how many lives  she had claimed.  She smiled and said, "Not many.  Most of them died out of fear rather than from the disease."  Fear is probably one of our worst enemies.  I have yet to meet someone who doesn't have some kind of fear or other - fear of flying, fear of death, fear of the dark, and so on, and I am no exception!  In the wake of recent spates of terrorism around the world, I guess it will not be surprising that many of us will choose to stay quietly at home - safe and sound.