Dear Brothers and Sisters:
These are challenging uncertain hard difficult fearful unsettling troubling adjective-ridden times. You want another thing to worry about? Here’s another thing to worry about: What if we run out of adjectives with which to describe the challenging uncertain hard difficult fearfulunsettling troubling times we’re in? Perhaps we need a Department of Adjectival Security?
And now for something completely different, and for an extra 10 points, please finish this quotation:
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but…
- the presence of pudding.”
- the ability to act in spite of fear.”
- rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”
- the knowledge that you can do 100 pushups without stopping to rest.”
As every schoolchild knows, the correct answer is 3*. Who said it? Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was our president.
There’s fear in the air, and there’s so much fear in the air that we can find ourselves being afraid without knowing exactly what we’re afraid of. You might even say that fear is contagious. Or not – it’s kind of a trite thing to say.
Fear can be useful. It lets us know of the possibility of danger. If we recognize and attend to our fears, we can take steps to avoid bad outcomes. For example, my grandfather warned us about stepping on rocks while hiking through the desert, lest we disturb a slumbering RATTLESNAKE. Or possibly a GILA MONSTER. Because I was afraid of being bitten by a RATTLESNAKE, I took his advice and avoided stepping on rocks.
Sometimes our fears can overwhelm and immobilize us. That’s when fear gets in the way. Sharing our fears with someone we trust can help with that. Writing them down can help. Breathing helps. And, of course, prayer. It’s OK and even healthy to share your fears with Jesus, out loud. Doing so strengthens the relationship. And goodness knows Jesus was not without His own fears. Consider the Garden of Gethsemane: He was afraid, and reasonably so, of what was to come. At the same time, He knew that something else was more important than fear.
“Do not fear, only believe.” Who said that? Jesus, of course – in Mark 5:36. And what He meant by believe had nothing to do with acknowledging the truth of a set of propositions and everything to do with what we mean when we say to someone we love, “I believe in you.” In fact that’s exactly what Jesus wants you to hear, always and everywhere: “I believe in you.”
Take heart, for you are beloved. More important than fear? You bet.
*Although one should never doubt the power of pudding. Just saying.
