spiders and fears

Mike is scared of spiders.  I knew this before coming here since he told me, and I told him that I remember blowing on the wall spiders that abound and eat mosquitoes, so we don't usually kill them.  We have a difference of opinion about them - I like to blow on them to make them go up towards the ceiling and further away from me; Mike likes to leave them where they are so they don't move, even if that means they're at eye level.  Thankfully, we don't live in the same room, so this doesn't come up often, but our dealings with spiders in the lounge of our dorm building do differ a bit.  :)  We share a fear of the camel spiders, or wind scorpions, that apparently also sometimes share our living space, and I've already decided to call Adrienne, the other med student, if one of them shows up.

The fact that I don't fear the wall spiders, though, reminds me of how conditioning affects our fears.  I probably would be afraid of them if we hadn't lived here and my parents hadn't taught me to blow on them for fun as a child.  The Zambians think chameleons, which I think are really cool (they change colors - how do you get cooler than that!? - and we even got to see one eat a few tiny ants) and gorgeous, are as gross as cockroaches, and I had several women gasping the other day when I wanted to pick one up.  (Mike stopped me before I caused any heart attacks.) 

Which of my fears are truly fear-worthy?  Which fears are innate, and which are taught/learned?  Do I fear things I shouldn't?  Do I allow fear to control more of my actions and choices than it should?  How do these thoughts extend into the less entomological parts of life - are my more basic fears well-founded?  Just some thoughts.  The Bible talks a lot more about fearing the LORD than it does about fearing other things.  For example, Psalm 27:1 says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"  I get the impression that fearing (living in rightful respect/reverence) the One worthy of it puts all our other fears into perspective.  May it be that way for me and for you.