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Tag: faith over fear

December 11, 2024

Christmas for millions around the globe is the highlight of the year. “Peace on earth, goodwill to men” springs from the intuitive knowledge of God that we all possess. There is an upward call in our souls. This may be the impetus throughout the ages to build churches with a steeple causing us to look above and reach for the heavens.

Speaking of steeples, the sight of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, rising like a phoenix from the ashes after a 5 year restoration, its beauty, sanctity, and steeple rebuilt, amazed us all.

In so many ways it symbolizes hope. Our war weary world needs to know that new life can rise from total destruction. The shattered homes, villages, and cities that have dominated our screens for the past three years, whether Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, or most recently Syria, will not dominate forever. Our war weary world needs to know that new life can rise from total destruction. Surely God hears as our wrecked world says enough is enough—help us O God. Lord have mercy.

The sages of Israel in centuries of biblical interpretation tell us that the greatest power in the world is “ the power of return”- that is, the transformative impact of repentance, turning away from sin and turning one’s heart back to God. When a nation sets its face toward Heaven it thinks and acts peacefully. Indeed it makes peace. And as Jesus said,”Blessed are the peacemakers…”.

Now is the time for all men and women of faith to turn away from our sins of selfishness and entitlement and renew our covenant to love the Lord and neighbour with “all our heart, soul, mind, and strength”. Love still heals whether it be for one or a multitude. Let love be the steeple of our souls.

May 23, 2024

We’ve all read the report on the sudden descent of a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore with one person dead and scores injured in the sudden fall. Apparently it hit turbulence and fell 6000 feet in a matter of minutes. People who were not wearing seatbelts were thrown all over the interior with many hitting the ceiling with their heads. Some of the most seriously injured were attendants standing in the aisles serving breakfast to the passengers. Fortunately the pilots were able to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.

For those who fly, this event is disturbing to say the least. Indeed it’s a cautionary tale about our universal vulnerability. Whether an air disaster, a sudden traffic accident, or a report from the doctor that a test has revealed a fatal disease, we are all subject to the seeming randomness of tragedy.

Nevertheless we still fly, drive, and live our lives with the belief that “it won’t happen to me”. The alternative, of course, is the “Henny Penny” view (Google it) that “the sky is falling” with its concomitant daily anxiety.

I think Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount should be not only considered but adopted: “Think not what the morrow bringeth. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”. Worry is counterproductive. Why borrow trouble from the future?

I often think of the old man lying in his death bed who told his pastor “90 percent of everything I worried about never happened”. So true.

Burying one’s head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich, is to be avoided as is staying indoors for the rest of our lives. Fear paralyzes. We’ve got to live. And living means risk taking. So get on that plane, drive that car, get out into our world. And wherever you find yourself “be there”.