“Do not be afraid” is one of the most frequent counsels in scripture, yet fear remains rampant in our world. Pause and take some time to reflect on where you find fear, hidden or unhidden, in your life.

When we look at the world around us, we see plenty for us to be anxious about. Just look at something as ever-present as the weather, for example. There are floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning strikes from thunderstorms, blizzards, droughts leading to fire and famine, climate change. It’s easy to ignore those things when they are far away, but as they approach our doorsteps, fear rises up to grip our minds and hearts. And then there’s the doctor visit; everything is rocking along on an even keel until we hear the dreaded diagnosis. Then fear fills the room as we wonder how we can possibly cope with what will come next, physically, emotionally, financially. Or who can receive a phone call or a knock at door in the middle of the night without fearing what disaster has occurred to loved ones? We tend to feel fear on some level whenever we experience failure, rejection or abandonment, loss of control over what’s going on in our lives. Fear shows up when those we depend on let us down, when change of any kind is in the offing, when the masks we present to the world begin to slip. Much of our fear comes from anticipating the unknown future, the “what if” thoughts and worries about things that may never occur.

No matter the underlying cause of our distress, we can have hope. We have Christ Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always,” (Mt.28:20) to see us through whatever we may have to face. We can trust the Beloved to uphold us on the darkest days and bring the light of divine Love to encourage our hearts just when we need it. Once we can let go of focusing on the past and the future and can come to be at home in the present moment, here and now whatever it may be, we realize there’s nothing for us to fear. We are forever enfolded in the embrace of God!