Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear. Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near. I love the reassurance of this refrain in More Voices just as much as I love the words of reassurance found in our scripture readings for this morning from Matthew and Joel. Matthew tells us not to worry and Joel instructs us “do not fear”. Which, as we all know is one of those things that is easier said than done. After all, especially now, there is a lot to worry about and there is, frankly, a lot to be afraid of. This week, in the middle of the night, Neelah woke up feeling terrible. She crawled into my bed and said “I don’t feel good, Mum.” Oh no, I immediately thought… what’s going on? Did she catch Covid at school? Then she ran for the bathroom and promptly threw up. Oh no! That’s not a good sign. Maybe she just ate something that upset her stomach… she said she had a bad headache when she went to sleep so perhaps it was just that (but why did she have a headache?) She crawled back into bed with me and the worries and fears just kind of took over. Should I even be cuddling and comforting her like this if it is Covid? Are we all going to have to isolate? How much school is she going to have to miss? What if she does have Covid? What if I get Covid? What will happen to Thanksgiving worship then? Should I cancel everything on my schedule? What if I spread Covid to someone else? What if I already have? How worried should I be? How afraid should get? How long will it be before I fall back asleep? What’s going to happen if I can’t get back to sleep right now? Deep Breath: Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear. Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near. I know I’m not the only one who has spent more than one restless night consumed by fears and worries. This was just one example from this week—just one small thing can set off an avalanche of our fears—rational or irrational—it doesn’t seem to matter—they just all come crashing down on us and leave us feeling, well, anxious and terrified. There are so many bigger, darker, scarier reasons that we have to be afraid. To be consumed with worry. Reasons that don’t go away with a simple negative Covid test result. Sitting in front of the doctor who has just spelled out for you how bad the cancer really is. Hearing how long your daughter has left. Laying beside an empty space where the person you loved used to sleep. Reasons that aren’t just first world problems…environmental disasters, war torn countries, famine… Things that can’t be fixed by a little “Don’t worry, be happy” song. That’s the kind of fear and worry facing the Israelites when Joel is prophesying. And still, into that worry and fear, God speaks through Joel the words of our faith: Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear. Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near. Look at the birds in the air, consider the lilies in the field, Oh, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice for the Lord our God is in our midst. God’s love is near always. And the wonderful thing about this time of year is that you don’t have to work very hard to see that God is indeed all around us. Walking down to the Look Off at Devil’s Glen in the midst of my worries (even though the self-assessment Neelah took assured us that as long as we were fully vaccinated those of us living with her could go back to life as normal) the glory of those fall colours seemed to sing to me again: Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear. Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near. There is no doubt in my mind that it is as Joel says—God can be found in our midst, all around us, all the time. And I’m not preaching that it is your job to find God—that you have to put on a happy face and see only the good in any situation—that’s not how it works. No, what I’m saying is that God is all around and God’s love breaks in even in our worst and darkest moments and we don’t have to do anything at all to receive God’s presence and feel God’s love. Sometimes, God speaks through the voice of a friend calling to see if you’d like a visit after you’ve just got home from the hospital. Sometimes, God is there in the strength that comes when you need it most helping you to carry on. Sometimes God draws your eyes to the hills and enchants you with the beauty of this creation giving you a new perspective. So that even in our worst moments, our awfulest days, God’s love is there—strong enough to find a way to break into our lives even when we aren’t looking for it—even when we’ve given up hoping for it! And so, no matter where we are, no matter what is happening, we give thanks for God’s song: Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear. Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.