I was about to ride a snowmobile up a ramp onto a pick up truck for the first time. “I’m afraid,” I admitted to my friend. “I want you to be afraid,” he replied. Fear warns us of danger. It is supposed to make us alert and cautious, and, to that extent, it is good.

My son Matthew is 3 ½ years old and, like most little children, he is enthralled with the world around him. Books on a shelf, stuff in drawers, cans in a cupboard and similar things fascinate him. He points to each item and asks, “What’s that?”