Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

With an election looming, Coronavirus on our shores, climate change, and more we are living in anxious times. We are confronted minute by minute, literally, with reasons to be afraid or angry. I find it a challenge to remain irenic in the face of the daily stream of outrage. I’m sure you feel it too.

In Scripture we are encourage 366 times to not be afraid. There are the famous examples, of courses, such as when the angels appear and calm startled folks. One that sticks out to me is from Isaiah 43:1, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are Mine.” God commands us not to fear. Fear is the thing that drives both anger and timidity in the face of challenges.

Fear is the thing which enfeebles us in the face of life’s challenges.

It saps our resolve, hardens our hearts, and drives out compassion. When we are afraid it becomes impossible for us to focus on the world around us because the world becomes the very thing driving us to fight or flight.

There is a difference between caution and fear. We are called to be wise, to be prudent, and to be measured. We are called to these not for the sake of ourselves but for the sake of our witness to the Gospel. These all are the hallmarks of a people who have been changed — transformed — by our encounter with the grace, love, and mercy of Christ. They are the hallmarks of a people whose way of being in the world is not shaped by fear but by hope.

To be a Christian is to live in hope. It is to live knowing that God has called and equipped us to be a light to the nations and to model what it means to walk through the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil. We are commanded not to fear — though we are beset by temptation to lapse into rage or despair let us encourage one another, build one another up, and lend each other courage.

Do not fear.

Fr Robert