As long as human history has been recorded, every age has seemed to unfold with greater drama. It is certainly true of our time. We've subdued polio and smallpox, transplanted human hearts, and worked with artificial hearts. Our athletes have broken world records in unprecedented numbers. We've walked on the moon. We've made advances in the arts, sciences, medicine, and every human endeavour.

Almost!

With all of our talent and information and ingenuity you would think we would have eliminated hunger, injustice, loneliness, hatred, violence, crime, political struggle, and fear.

But we haven't. Some things won't go away. As Jesus once said, "The poor you have with you always." Along with several other things!

Does this mean we should give up on these things? No, it means we must learn how to live in such a world. We must pledge ourselves anew to live with the trouble that surrounds us in a realistic, hopeful way.

Some of our troubles are quite manageable. With a bit of positive thinking and action we can handle them ourselves. They can be conquered. In fact, we get beyond their power to hurt us when we get past our fear of them.

Insurance companies make millions of dollars betting that the disasters people fear will never occur. These companies win more often than they lose. That's the only way they can stay in business.

Most of us cross our bridges before we get to them. We mentally create all sorts of obstacles; conjure up a lot of ghosts. Fear can be seriously overplayed. It can be exaggerated until the fear of the evil is worse than the evil itself. A person's fear of illness is often worse than the illness! The fear of failure may be worse than actual failure.

There are so many faceless phobias . . . fear of high places, fear of low places, fear of being closed in, fear of being in the open spaces, fear of old age, fear of death. There is even phobia-phobia . . . fear of fear!

Friend, troubles you are experiencing in your life, may be as a result of a health problem; a financial setback; a problem with your family; a neighbour problem; the loss of a loved one; or some other challenge. If so, and if you would like to find yourself in a place where trouble can't hurt you, I invite you to write for our FREE booklet titled WHERE TROUBLE CAN'T HURT YOU. To receive your copy by return mail, Just write to: Discovering A BETTER LIFE, P.O. Box 1540, Albany WA 6331 You can also telephone your request on: (08)9841 8418. Email: abl-alb@omninet.net.au