One of my Urbanna joys is to watch the ospreys nest at Waterman’s Park. In late June I caught sight of the mother with her youngster. I wondered if Junior was ready to fly. Then on July 5th I walked by the park as the day-after fireworks exploded at the river, and was alarmed to see that the loud booms and flashes of light were going off all around the nest. I thought of the young bird. Would it panic in fear and risk falling from the nest? Could it fly to safety? A couple days later I was relieved to see the two birds sitting peacefully together in the nest.
We live in fearful times. Some have suggested that, along with the pandemic, there is an epidemic fear in America. While we may not all agree as to the source of the fear or its solution, I suspect all of us would agree that this is not a healthy state of affairs. Widespread fear is not good for the body or the soul, for our children or the commonwealth.
The Bible speaks repeatedly of the “Fear of the Lord.” But as a young Christian I was troubled by the idea that I should fear God. Isn’t our Heavenly Father a God of love? Didn’t Jesus tell us, “Do not be afraid”?
