When I was a lad, Hallowe’en wasn’t really a big deal. Now it seems to be a thing for adult and child alike.
But underlying the costumes and sweets, there’s a question. What are you afraid of?
The New Testament sees the demonic as a real, clear and present danger. Jesus drives back these forces of darkness to usher in the Kingdom. These days we are blessed with the understandings of modern science and medicine and no longer turn instinctively to supernatural explanations. I’m pretty agnostic about such things. I think we might get a bit stuck on whether they exist. But one thing is undoubtedly real, and it’s perhaps our most implacable enemy: fear itself. There can be structures of fear, like, for example, financial collapse, war or abuse of the planet. There can be the fearfulness within each of us, of our day to day failings, but also perhaps the more disturbing realisation that we do not have the courage to resist the structures of fear, and instead actively participate in them.
And this runs through the Bible like a thread. Adam and Eve make gods of themselves, and at once they are afraid. Moses is suffocated by anxiety at the role to which he’s been called. Even after the Resurrection, the disciples are locked in the room by their fear. They cannot, at least then, bring themselves to rely on God.
So where’s the good news? Well, you might sum up the Gospel in four words. Those words are the opposite thread that runs through God’s story: God says them as he makes the covenant with Abraham; he says them to Joshua before entering the promised land; Gabriel says them to Mary as she faces the choice that will shape all history; the angel says it to the holy women at the tomb on the Sunday after their worst fears have been realised.
God is with us through the fear of life and the storm on the lake, he tells us to take heart, to rely on him, and speaks to us the four words of the Gospel: do not be afraid.
Chris Braganza
