About a week after my gas station encounter with ‘Ataraxia’ (a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety) I was knocked out of my seat again while reading the book of Hebrews. My plan that morning back in 2017 was to read the first three chapters straight through, but when I got to chapter two, I was stopped dead in my tracks. I have read the verses I am about to share many times over the years, but it was as if the Holy Spirit had shielded my mind from their true meaning until that moment. So here goes. Hebrews 2:14-15 reads “Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the Devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” BOOM!!! There it is! Jubilee!!! Freedom from the fear of death! The Bible was validating what the Holy Spirit had revealed at that gas station. Jesus is the bridge that leads us from fear to peace, from death to life, from ‘Thanatophobia to Ataraxia.’

     I spent the next few days contemplating what I had learned and here is the key takeaway. God has gone to the ultimate extreme to free us from fear, death, and the powers of darkness. Having taken us from ‘Thanatophobia to Ataraxia’ we are ready to live freely and abundantly, at home in peace in the Garden, once again. And by peace, I mean the peace that transcends all understanding. The kind of peace that is a divine gift and that elevates us above all internal and external fears. As Jesus puts in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  Now that’s a heck of a promise!

     Like many of you, I’ve wondered almost all my life if it was really possible to be free from fear and enjoy peace on earth. And like many of you, I thought peace meant a life free from trials, disease, struggles and strife. But that is not the freedom Jesus was talking about and for which he died on the cross. The freedom and resulting peace he lived and died for was spiritual in nature. The freedom He grants is the freedom to overcome fear and death itself. The peace that He gives is an internal peace that stays with us now and into eternity. It tells us that no matter what happens God has our back, and He will work all things out for the good! And those struggles I mentioned at the top of this paragraph. Well, one day they will no longer be, but for now they persist. The good news is that His peace also equips us with the courage to deal with whatever comes our way in the here and now. As a result, we will be able to face earthly hardships head on and persevere. So don’t be surprised when you find yourself walking when you want to sit, laughing when you want to cry, and dancing when you want to hide.

     Embracing that peace on a daily basis is what I call Garden Living! It is truly the only way to live, anything else would just be survival. Jesus did not give His life so that we could ‘hang on’ till we die, He died so that we could have life to the fullest! Keep walking in His freedom and peace my friends! Never give up, never quit! The only way you will ever lose in this life is when you quit on God! I am no different than any of you, I am flesh and blood like everyone else. I am just one man who has decided that no matter what I am going to finish the journey back home to the Garden. So, take the first step in faith and follow the bridge that crosses from ‘Thanatophobia to Ataraxia.’ You have everything to gain and nothing to lose – except for the fear of death of course!

Dario L. Perla