WEBVTT

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(lighthearted piano music)

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(lighthearted piano music)

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- Hi everyone, this is Chaplain Verson.

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And today's thought is on panic.

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February 25th marks the anniversary

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of one of the the strangest
events from World War II,

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the Battle of Los Angeles.

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In the early morning
hours that day in 1942,

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air raid sirens begin blaring in LA

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while search lights scanned the sky.

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Then the anti-aircraft artillery
began firing 1400 shells

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at Japanese aircraft in the area.

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(air-raid sirens blaring)

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Even before the hour-long battle,

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Americans had been on edge,

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as it was only three months
after the Pearl Harbor attack.

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Once the shooting started,
the panic seemed to spread

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with numerous witnesses
claiming to have seen anywhere

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from 25 to 200 Japanese
planes flying overhead.

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But not a single bomb was
dropped on the US that day

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and not a single aircraft was shot down

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because there never were
any Japanese bombers.

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Sadly there were casualties,

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as three civilians were
killed by friendly fire

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and three others died of
heart attacks from the stress.

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In 1983, the US office
of Air Force History

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attributed the event to
a case of war nerves,

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triggered by a lost weather balloon.

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It's interesting to me that word panic,

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it comes from the story
of the Greek god Pan,

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who was said to frighten
travelers in the woods

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into irrational fear through
alarming but harmless noises

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such as rustling bushes.

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Panic creates that kind
of emotional feeling.

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So strong that it blocks out

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reasonable and logical thought,
which only feeds more fear.

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This fight or flight instinct
is a survival technique

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but sometimes we carry it into situations

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where our lives aren't at risk.

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When we feel that intense emotion,

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it pushes us to react
with unconscious instinct.

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But it should be a red flag

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that encourages us to respond
with conscious forethought.

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Similar to the Battle of Los Angeles,

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if we don't choose to
respond, we may hurt people

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and say things we can't take back

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when we react out of emotion,

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without consideration for the future.

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In those moments, if we
slow down, take a breath,

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take in all of the facts,

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and take things one step at a time,

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we're more likely to make a wise decision

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to a thoughtful response.

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As the psychiatrist
and Holocaust survivor,

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Viktor Krankl once said,

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"Between stimulus and
response, there is a space.

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"In that space is our power
to choose our response.

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"In our response lies our
growth and our freedom."

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Blessings this week.

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(lighthearted music)

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(lighthearted music)