WEBVTT

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(quiet music)

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- Hi, everyone.

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This is Chaplain Bursan
and today's thought

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is about facing our fears.

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January 15th is the
anniversary of the passing

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of the person who's
perhaps most responsible

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for creating and developing the Air Force

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and the only person in US history

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to serve as a five-star general
in two different services,

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General Henry Hap Arnold.

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Though General Arnold
has often been called

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the architect of the Air
Force, early in his career,

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fear almost stopped
him from flying at all.

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As a Lieutenant, Arnold was trained to fly

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by the Wright brothers

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and was one of the first rated
pilots in the Army Air Corps.

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But he had a nearly fatal experience

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while piloting the Wright Model C

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when he went into an uncontrolled spin.

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Thankfully, Arnold brought
the plane out of it

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and survived.

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But the incident traumatized him so much

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that he developed a
paralyzing fear of flying.

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He grounded himself and
applied for a leave of absence.

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And in a report to his
commanding officer, he wrote,

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"I cannot even look at
a machine in the air

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"without feeling that some accident

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"is going to happen to it."

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Thankfully, Major Billy
Mitchell told him that

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he would be promoted
to the rank of captain

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if he would re-qualify for flight status.

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So Hap Arnold decided to face his fears

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by flying 15 to 20 minutes
a day in a safer aircraft

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until one day, he regained
his joy for flying

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and re-qualified as an aviator.

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If it wasn't for his
bravery in facing his fears

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he might have disappeared from history,

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never becoming the commanding
general of the US Army

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and never developing

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the most powerful Air Force in the world.

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Fear is a strange thing in that

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the more we avoid that which frightens us,

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the more fear grows.

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However, the more we confront our fears,

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the weaker they become.

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Though some fear is healthy

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and can be vital for our survival,

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when fear controls us, it
can not only keep us from

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reaching our goals and what brings us joy,

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it can rob the world of
what we have to offer.

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My hope for us is that we
can take those small steps

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to confront those fearful
things holding us back.

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Because often what is much worse

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than most of the imagined
threats we may face

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is missing out on the
actual potential we have

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simply because we're
listening to the wrong voice.

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Blessings this week.

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(quiet music)