Why do we so commonly teach people to be afraid?
Afraid of bridges. Afraid of spiders. Afraid of the dark.
Afraid of red meat. Afraid of processed foods. Afraid of water from the tap.
Afraid of guns. Afraid of immigrants. Afraid of culture. Afraid of public schools. Afraid of democrats. Afraid of republicans. Afraid of Muslims. Afraid of our neighbors. Afraid of strangers.
Afraid of cancer. Afraid of ebola. Afraid of death. Afraid of life, at least one fully lived.
Afraid of conflict. Afraid of vulnerability. Afraid of truth. Afraid of exposure. Afraid of friendships. Afraid of disappointing people.
Afraid of being unknown. Afraid of being known.
Afraid of being a disappointment to God.
We set up cultures of fear. We lead people to believe that the Christian life is lived upon a tightrope. Blindfolded. One wrong step and…disaster. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said to his best friends, “why are you so afraid?” He invited them, and us, to live lives of love. St. John wrote that we cannot embody love and remain afraid.
Our mission is not fear, but love. We were not called to live life upon a tightrope weaved by the Old Covenant standards and laws of our own making, but to dance in a wide green pasture. We were not called to live with blinders on, but with our eyes wide open to the beauty and wonder of God.
Jason Kanz 