"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
--U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (In his 1933 Inaugural address, at the worst point in the Great Depression)
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We fear.
It's a thing we do.
A lot has been written about our fears. And I've read a lot of it. The objects of our fears, the processes of our fears, the consequences of our fears. The why of our fears, and our reactions to them. Fight or flight ... or freeze.
Considering how many billions of us occupy this planet, the list of our most common fears is relatively short.
1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of success
3. Fear of dying
4. Fear of commitment or intimacy
5. Fear of spiders
6. Fear of flying
7. Fear of public speaking
8. Fear of heights
9. Fear of the dark
10. Fear of rejection
11. Fear of open spaces
12. Fear of enclosed spaces
Even short, it's a daunting list; especially if you, personally, struggle with one of more of those fears. And while I am not offering a cure, I do have an idea for how we should regard our fears ... and, perhaps from there, we can at least find a path taking us away from them. I've concluded that FDR was right: we need to find a way "to convert retreat into advance." To do that, we first need to recognize a truth: our fears are strengthened by our focus on them.
In this week's Lectionary selection from 1st Peter, he writes to believers about how to deal with the distresses to which they have been subjected, the suffering they are experiencing. Quoting Isaiah 8:12-13, Peter exhorts them: "Do not fear what they fear." They? Peter means we should not fear the same things as non-believers. But how? We all fear.
It's in the focus.
Isaiah told his listeners to focus on God rather than fear what "they" fear. Peter pivots the focus to the Messiah, Jesus. Neither is saying we are not going to fear. Both are saying we need to shift our focus, our attention, our concentration to God.
Throughout scripture, we are told to place God first. It's the first commandment given to Moses. It's the greatest commandment according to Jesus. Nothing and no one should be positioned ahead of God. In that light, it is probably not a great surprise that God must also be placed ahead of our fears.
How else could we turn retreat into advance?
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 21, 2017)
First reading
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm
Psalm 66:8-20
Second reading
1 Peter 3:13-22
Gospel
John 14:15-21
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Can you join us Friday at Lectionary Breakfast? As always, we start at 8:00 and run for about an hour. The food is tasty and the company is relaxed. We enjoy reading and discussing the scripture, and finding how it applies to our real lives. We're in the back room at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant.
Ask if you don't see us. There's nothing to be afraid of ... 😉
Blessings,
Steve
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