Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

The first time I realized I was terrified of something I was standing on top of a moderately tall Appalachian mountain. My father had been beckoning me to look out over the expanse but what he saw confused him.  I felt a void within move and pull me in. I collapsed to the ground. I spent the remainder of my time at the summit quivering in a ball of fear trying not to look out over the terrifying expanse.  A new found fear of heights had completely immobilized me, much to the chagrin of my parents.

 

This fear of heights would visit me again and again, on tops of of stairwells, roofs, tall buildings, mountains, and the worst… rollarcoaster rides. Admittedly it’s an adolescent fear but it still humbles me from time to time and yet it pails in comparison to other fears.

 

While my fear of heights caused me to sink to my knees, other fears would soon find me.  Its those adult fears of not being loved, accepted, known, appreciated, cared for, or abandoned that I’ve found harder to shake. I can overcome a physical fear like heights but how do I overcome an anxiety that hard to hit? How do I surmount a fear that has no trigger beyond my own inner monologue?

 

It is to these fears that Christ speaks this weekend. Like the disciples we’re cast about on a sea of fears and crushed by waves of doubt. Although we don’t admit it many of us operate in  this terrifying  atmosphere ripe with tension built within our inner chambers. This weekend Christ invites us into a solution – trust. He reaches out and breaks the bonds of lies that are the source of our tense hearts.

 

 

Listen to his words – Take courage; it is I. Fear Not.

 

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Featured Image by Shandi-Lee Cox CC/BY Header Image by Christopher Chan CC/BY