From our birth, we all respond to the world in terms of feelings—pain/pleasure, security/insecurity, hope/fear, etc. At times the feelings form images in or projected beyond the mind.

One of our favorite stories is of young Tommy who had been put to bed several times. When he cried out again, his father angrily went into Tommy's room and asked what the matter was. "I'm scared," said Tommy, "there are bears in here." "Well," said the father turning on the light, "you can see that there aren't any bears." Replied Tommy, "Of course not when you turn the light on."

We build on the feelings as we grow, but the feelings are basic and shape the tone and content of what we later express in thoughts. Thus, in the process, we first identify our hopes and fears for the congregation. This is partly a planning piece. Once we have named what we want or what we are afraid might happen, we can talk about whether or not those hopes and fears are realistic. But particularly as we move to the personal level, we must acknowledge that hopes and fears are real, even if we feel they are not realistic. If someone says that they are afraid of terrorists at the mall, or afraid of a biological attack, we need to hear and acknowledge that fear.