What are we afraid of?
In Henri Nowen’s book Lifesigns he reminds us that the opposite of fear is love. One scripture scholar notes that the exhortation “Be not afraid” is repeated 365 times in the Bible – once for every day of the year! The Gospel for this past weekend [Matthew 10: 26 – 33 (in the Catholic tradition)] also encourages us to not be afraid. As a person of faith, I believe that we do not need to be afraid and that there is a force of good in the universe far greater than anything I can imagine. Living by faith anchors us in love, which banishes fear. The more we live in love, the less space there is for fear. And yet, so many live fearfully. This is not the same as those people in our world who truly live in a place and/or situation where their life and loved ones are threatened regularly. I am talking about so many who see the world through fear colored glasses, expecting that anything or anyone they do not understand is a threat. When we find ourselves in this min