Chaplain's Corner

You know fear, that dreadful feeling that grips your soul, puts your mind into high gear and either pushes you to shrink or puff yourself to look as if you’re a formidable foe? You know fear. Recently I worked with a gentleman who knew fear – he had good reason to know fear. Change came too fast into his life. It was nearly impossible for him to keep up with all that was happening. I watched the fear grow and I watched as he shrank, hoping that someone would step in and be his savior.

You know fear, the kind that you begin to notice when things are not quite right. The longer it takes to put your finger on what is going on, the deeper and more pervasive the fear becomes. The kind of fear that becomes something of a companion, impossible to shake, and at the same time impossible to dismiss, you come to live with it not knowing what else to do, you move on with this unwanted companion, fear.

You know fear, the kind that grips your throat as if it will strangle you. You struggle against its grip and free yourself but it lurks, like a wolf ready to pounce, just waiting for you to stumble or fall, too weak to put up much of a fight. And even if you don’t stumble, that uncomfortable sense that the danger is right there ready to exploit any weakness is wearing you out.

You know fear, the kind that surprises you out of nowhere, that overwhelms you, pushes you to your knees, and causes you to cover your face and cry out to God for help. Well as strange as it may sound, for many the holiday season if one of the most fearful of the year. While the media and many around are getting all juiced up with excitement and anticipation, you are wishing that by some miracle you could wake up and find yourself in January, missing the season altogether.

The accounts of the first Christmas are laced with more fear that many realize. Six times in the early accounts of the birth of Jesus in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel, it is stated that people were afraid as the events of Jesus birth unfolded. Most of the present day Christmas talk totally ignores fear. We go straight to “Joy to the world” and “Have a holy jolly Christmas”. Yet today, over 2000 years since the event we celebrate, Christmas, still stirs up much fear.

Christmas fears come in all shapes and forms. Some of us are afraid of another family blow-up on Christmas day. Others are afraid of being alone at Christmas. Others are afraid of rejection. Few of us have experienced the fears that those involved in the first Christmas experience. For them the fears were of two kinds. For some it was fear generated by the close encounters they had with God’s messengers, the angels. For others it was the fear of not knowing what this event, the birth of the “King of the Jews”, was going to do to the status quo.

Many will approach the month of December and have to wrestle with fear. Many will say good bye to this annual event with a deep sigh of relief that it is over again for a year. Many will struggle deeply to find any joy in the coming weeks. Please don’t judge those you know who experience this struggle. It is hard enough but with all the Christmas hype, the struggle gets even harder.

Instead, why not be sensitive this Christmas. Watch for those people struggling, for most likely there is fear of some sort in their hearts. If you have the opportunity, take time to listen to their stories and give one of the most precious gifts – the gift of compassion.