When I was little, I used to run past the stuff I was afraid of. Dark rooms, big bugs, mean dogs – anything that frightened me I consistently passed by with as much speed as I could muster. The faster I moved, I reasoned, the less chance there was of the scary thing “getting” me.

We’re all a little (or a lot) afraid of something. Even as grown-ups. Maybe it’s crime, or natural disaster. Or maybe cancer terrifies us – or heart disease. Perhaps abandonment is a big dark room to some, or change, or hunger or solitude. We’re not just frightened for ourselves, either. We fear for our loved ones, too – and for the hidden dangers we can’t see or name, but know are out there just the same.

Flannery O’Connor found a name for this in the writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who called it “passing by the dragon.” In St. Cyril’s words, "The dragon sits by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.”
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