Fear is perhaps the biggest obstacle to love because it holds us within ourselves. Fear is a form of clinging to a false security and and identity.
Love is a self emptying. It requires a leap into the unknown, with no guarantee of safety. It is like being tied to the mast of a ship that is sinking, but sinking into fullness. Ultimately it is a gift, a grace that fills us up just when we feel we have reached the end of ourselves.
Our separation from God is an illusion, our vulnerability is an illusion. We are safe in the Father’s hands. And yet we are still afraid.
It is the ego and the false self that make us so vulnerable. It takes courage to let them die.