As I asked you at the beginning of Mass to introduce yourself name a fear that you have, you probably recognize that there are all sorts of things to be fearful of . . . heights, sharks, climate change, nuclear war, divorce, etc.
Some of you may even be fearful of your Dad (which is unfortunate as we celebrate Fathers’ Day). I saw a meme lately, it said “You think you can hurt my feelings? I used to hold the flashlight for my Dad.” Ouch.
Well, I was in a fearful situation last Sunday. I was in Mpls at a 70th birthday party for a priest friend of mine. The place was a half-block away from the parking ramp, where US Marshalls agents shot and killed a man a week before. So going down there, the police redirected us for there was a protest demonstrating against the shooting. That’s fine, but the protest went on into the night (remember this is Sunday night) and a barricade was set up, and people were playing volleyball right in the middle of the blocked street. Then about 11:30pm a man, who was very drunk, drove into a parked car acting as a barricade, the car hit many people and a woman died. The crowd pulled him out of the car and attacked him. And this is all while I’m in bed just a block away.
The scene had all the elements of things to be afraid of . . . unorganized protest, angry mob,
drunk driving, innocent person getting hit and killed.
In a way, the gospel story also has the elements of things to be afraid of . . . violent storm, huge waves, boat filling up with water, night, far off shore.
I am sure that many of you could describe your life recently and come up with elements of things to be afraid of . . . illness, financial loss, not fitting in, being shunned or rejected, kids not behaving, spouses being unfaithful and recently . . . who is allowed to receive Communion.
And Jesus asleep on the boat is probably more of metaphor (for who can sleep on boat during a storm). But often we think that Jesus is asleep to our needs, to our troubles. We could say the same thing to him, “Don’t you care that I feel like I am dying?”
The strange thing is that usually the thing that thing we are afraid of isn’t the real problem. It’s the anticipation of doing it—which is usually an illusion of the mind.
In the 1960s, a researcher named Seymour Epstein got curious about skydivers. He fitted novice parachutists with heart rate monitors that measured their pulses as their plane climbed toward the release point. He found that—as you might expect—while still safe inside the plane, a jumper’s heart rate got faster and faster as the plane ascended. The higher the plane went, the higher the anxiety.
What he didn’t expect to find, however, was that once they threw themselves out the door of the plane their heart rates declined dramatically, and they admitted to quite enjoying themselves.
The most stressful part of the entire experience was the illusion of how frightening the event would be, or, in other words, the anticipation of fear. Once the reality of the event took over, the fear vanished.”
Think about that. The thing you most fear . . . being abandoned, being less than perfect, getting that disease is probably NEVER going to be as bad as your fear of it.
Jesus says to the disciples, “Why are you terrified?”
How do we overcome fear? Let’s take apart the word fear . . .
F - face that “thing” with a bias of hope. Realistically, it probably won’t kill you, if it does, great . . . then you are with God.
E - examine your fears with the facts. Go to trusting authorities. Don’t rely on ONE website. Do your search.
A – act against your temptations. Go do something. Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Always, always, always, always, always do what you are afraid to do.”
R - release your fear to God. There is something bigger than you are. Talk to Jesus, or God, about whatever. Fall into the arms of God.
Jesus asks a second question in the gospel, “Do you not yet have faith?”
The first reading illustrated that in ancient times, the people thought storms at sea were caused by a big sea monster, and God told Job, “I got this. Don’t worry.” Or Paul in the second reading, reminds the Corinthians that when they are IN Christ, they don’t have to stay in the old habits . . . like fearing “this” or fretting about “that.”
I like what Paul says in Romans, chapter 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Think about that . . . if you are tight with God, what is there to worry about? Paul goes on, “For I am convinced that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Not death, or hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or the sword. Not things present or things to come. Not powers, not heights, nor depth not anything in all creation will be able to separate you from the love that God has for you, through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the end, all things will work out. If it hasn’t worked out yet for you, it is not the end.