FOF- Fear of Falling

As someone who has had a few significant falls, and as a therapist who has worked with many "fallers", I can verify that fear of falling, or FOF, is a real disability. Those at an increased risk of falls may be afraid to leave their home. Their gait pattern changes as they take small, cautious steps rather than confident strides. Some resist using a gait aid that would give them freedom to walk independently and safely. I have used walking poles on rough ground for several years now as they provide increased stability as well as an upper body workout. I know my standing balance is not as good as it was in young adulthood, and I don't want to fall, even from a standing height. I practice standing on one leg, trying to maintain my balance for thirty seconds or more. I used to be able to hold this position for two or three minutes.

I have always had a fear of heights. I never liked looking at waterfalls or standing near the edge of a cliff, and to this day, I have never had an interest in going to the top of Toronto's CN Tower. 

Atop the Rockefeller Centre. The Empire State Building is in the centre

In 2018, we went to the top of Manhattan's Rockefeller Centre, a 70-floor building that is the 7th tallest building in NYC. There was no glass floor, and the edge was high and wide enough to make me feel safe. At this height, cars and people were as small as insects on the ground.

The gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent was the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. In one instance, Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and challenges him to jump, claiming angels would protect him. 

Malcome Guite, in his Lenten guide The Word in the Wilderness, says the pinnacle of the temple "represents the height of religious experience and achievement...(a life that) can be riddled with pride and a sense of distinction, judging or looking down on others..."

Guite uses  G.K. Chesterson's short story, The Hammer of God, as an illustration. The BBC TV series Father Brown is a favourite of mine, and this story is retold in Season 1, Episode 1. In the story, the curate is obsessed with the Gothic architecture of the building and takes to praying on an upper terrace of the church. He commits a crime from this height.  Father Brown confronts him about his judgmental act.

"I think there is something rather dangerous about standing on these high places even to pray," said Father Brown. "Heights were made to be looked at, not to be looked from."

"Do you mean that one may fall over?" asked Wilfred.
"I mean that one's soul may fall if one's body doesn't," said the other priest...

"I knew a man," he said, "who began by worshipping with others before the altar but who grew fond of high and lonely places to pray from, corners or niches in the belfry or the spire. And once in one of those dizzy places, where the whole world seemed to turn under him like a wheel, his brain turned also, and he fancied he was God. So that, though he was a good man, he committed a great crime..."

"He thought it was given to him to judge the world and strike down the sinner. He would never have had such a thought if he had been kneeling with other men upon a floor...

There is no need to have a FOF from an arrogant and prideful height if we live with humility and meekness, showing love and compassion for those around us.