Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)
FEAR. Of all the weapons in the world, fear is the greatest of them all. Throughout human history, fear has been used to inflict horrific atrocities on groups of people. Wars and the genocide of peoples are all products of fear. Unscrupulous politicians manipulate and prey on the fears of people to get votes. It matters not what political ideology or party to which they belong.
There are healthy fears, for example, look both ways before crossing a street to avoid getting hit by a car. Or, don’t accept rides from strangers. Each and everyone of us has something we fear, be it spiders, snakes, heights, enclosed spaces to name just a few. The Church has used the fear of Hell to prod us into being good. It was a favorite teaching tool of my 2nd grade teacher, Sr. Angeline, who believed that if we were not willing to go to heaven voluntarily, she would scare us into heaven.
However, fears can paralyze us. I remember, shortly after 911, attempting to assist a woman paralyzed by her fear of terrorists. She refused to leave her home for fear that a terrorist would kill her. It mattered not explaining that it was highly unlikely a terrorist would target a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis, much less her as a victim. She was so consumed by fear that she eventually needed hospitalization.
Jesus tells his disciples and us that if we are one with him and the One who sent him, we have nothing to fear. If we truly believe in him and love as he loves, our fears will neither possess nor paralyze us. Paul expresses this in his letter to the Romans. “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 35-39). Jesus’ message is clear. Be not afraid.
