“The Only Thing We Have to Fear . . . ”
by Sr. Anne Marie Mongoven
Sr. Anne Marie Mongoven
As I began to write this article it was a bright and sunny day, but even with the sun shining the day was gloomy. Yesterday, Sept. 29, 2008, the stock market took a wild swing, with stocks plummeting in value by almost 778 points.
As I struggled with what topic I could “shed light on” for this issue of Spectrum, I e-mailed my editor, saying, “As of this moment I have no idea what I should write about today. If you have a suggestion I would be glad to consider it.”
Tricia Buxton replied, “Maybe an article on providence or trusting in the Spirit would be in order.” She commented, “It seems everyone is fearing something these days, the economy, the right-sizing of the Mound, the aging of congregation members, the election outcome, etc.” And, Tricia asked, “How do we stop fearing the unknown and move to a place of serenity? How do we ‘let go and let God?’”
So I asked myself, “What is an honest response to Tricia’s question?” What have my study and long experience of living told me about daily life and fear?
They have told me that the fulcrum of this world and our lives is God. God is our center, our core, our anchor, the one who cares for us and gives us the will to love and the strength to endure whatever crosses our path. We believe that God is love, a love that is vibrant, universal, personal, and unconditional.
The first Christians learned from Jesus that God is love, constantly, unceasingly loving. God does not love us sometimes and treat us angrily at other times. God does not punish us while simultaneously embracing us. God is always reaching out tenderly, with strength, to love us. God is always lifting us up and expanding our own ability to be loving.
I believe that stories of God as judge and punisher are for the most part power stories, stories from those seeking power over others. Love never wants to judge or punish the beloved. Every lover wants the beloved to live lovingly, vibrantly, universally, personally, wholly. When we do not love, we bring pain and judgment upon ourselves.
If we love as God loves, we need not fear. We may experience pain and we may suffer, but if we love even on desperately bad days, our love will give us tranquility and enable us to reach out generously to others. Love displaces fear so fear may not be the fulcrum of our lives. A life or a world centered on fear would be miserable. A world built on love is what Divine Love creates through us.
The whole mystery of the Triune God tells us that love moves out from the Godhead creatively, spiraling up and out and down and in, embracing all reality. That is the Good News that Jesus preached. That is what God’s reign looks like. That is what we need to remember.
Those who love cannot lose. We may lose our money and become materially poor. Our losses may bring pain, individual sorrow, family division, community violence, even poverty. Poverty is often dehumanizing, giving birth to violence rather than peace, but poverty cannot conquer love unless we let it do so.
When we pray, “Providence can provide, Providence did provide, Providence will provide,” what is it that we are asking Providence to provide? Maybe it is the wisdom to acknowledge God as our fulcrum, our center, our core, our anchor, the One who enables us to live in love and without fear even in the most difficult of times.