Do Not be Afraid

 

Earlier this week I attended a carol service at All Hallows by The Tower of London.  It was a lovely occasion, and I went at the kind invitation of a church member.  It was put on by three of the City Guilds, one of which she is a member.  I was thrilled because The Company of Watermen and Lightermen were present and in recent months we’ve discovered that my 8x grandfather was a waterman on the Thames, based at Southwark, and my 7x grandfather a lighterman.

During the service I listened to the traditional Christmas readings and was struck afresh by a phrase describing Herod as he heard from the Wise Men of the birth of Jesus that he was ‘sore afraid’!  Such a contrast to the message of the angels to the shepherds to ‘be not afraid’.

I wonder why we so often live in fear?

It often comes our way when sense we are losing control, influence, or power.  Our very identity seems to float away from us when, say: our children start making their own decisions, we retire, our bodies grow older, or we find ourselves in a pandemic. 

I suspect we are all prone, sometimes with good reason, not only to be afraid of the ‘worst case scenario’, but actually to live it, even though it hasn’t arrived.

Maybe an antidote to fear is a greater trust in the God of Surprises. 

Perhaps the worst case will come our way, yet even in extremis we can find ourselves wonderfully, and comfortingly, surprised by the help, strength and new possibilities that come our way at the bleakest of moments.

The God of Surprises comes to us in many a guise and often through people.  I especially love that hymn line, ‘I will hold the Christ-light for you, in the night-time of your fear’, hinting that friends, family and neighbours might be God's gift to us in our darkest moments. 

So, as this is the last blog of 2021, may I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we remember, with faith in our hearts, that ancient message of the Bethlehem angels, ‘Do not be afraid’.