Fear

Pascha, the Lord's Resurrection, is now more than a week behind us.  The Great and Holy Fast set aside for us a time in which we might live "in Christ," a time in which our fasting brought us near to Him (by bringing us OUT of the world), but also a time when, through the rigorous ecclesiastical schedule, we were literally "with Him" more frequently.  It was and is a time for us to develop a sense of connectedness to Him as something necessary, as something normal, as part of our daily routine.

Now we are out of that season.  But does that mean that we must return to "things as usual"?  Perhaps the church isn't open for services today, but does that mean that we cannot or should not remain (by prayer, by reading scripture, by reading from the Fathers) connected with our Lord?

Here we sit, on the Tuesday after Bright Week.  The Apostles have seen the risen Lord.  Even Thomas no longer has doubt in the fact of Christ's Resurrection.  As the Lord came to the Apostles this past Sunday, Saint John records that He greeted them by saying, "Peace be with you," that He "breathed upon them," and instructed them to "receive the Holy Spirit."  Clearly as our Lord did this, the Spirit did not at once enter the eleven.  That is yet to come, on the day of Pentecost, weeks from now.

And so to a certain extent, the eleven still live in fear of the Jews and the Romans.  They remain "off the grid" so to speak.  There are no public gatherings in which they speak to other followers of our Lord.  There remains a certain level of fear.

So, what is it that changes in them on that 50th day after the Resurrection?  Yes, of course, they received the Holy Spirit.  But they themselves had to change.  They had to recognize God's plan for them.  They had to come to expect what lay ahead for them, and for the Church - a life lived no less sacrificially than was our Lord's life.

Imagine, twelve men sent into the world to change it fundamentally forever!  The world has spears and swords, by the legions.  The twelve have words, and love.  In the wisdom of the world, the later could never overcome the former.  And yet, "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." (1Cor 3:19)

After receiving the Holy Spirit, the eleven (who became twelve again) indeed set out and conquered the whole world.  And the faithful whom they taught continued their conquests, even up to this very day, so that all throughout the world might hear the Gospel of our Lord.

In our times, we fear too many things.  We fear economic disaster, pandemics, super-volcanoes, earthquakes, nuclear disaster, nuclear war, terrorism, ....  The list seems endless.  But what is there truly to fear, except for our own being found to be faithless when our Lord returns?  If I perish in this life today or if I perish in this life 30 years from today, I will perish in this life.  What must concern me is not this life, but rather life eternal, and not being found "among the goats" on that day!

There is nothing in this life that we should fear except for living a life in which we reject our Lord.  For there is no threat in this life that can touch us in eternity, as long as we live a life according to His commandments, loving God above all, loving neighbor as self, laying up treasures in heaven which cannot be taken from us!

As we do this, His peace truly fills us.  There is no room for fear.  There is only Christ crucified and risen!  There is nothing more we need know or embrace than this!