#UULent Day 22 (March 23): fear

Often we attribute people’s (and our own) bad behavior to “acting out of fear”. What is it that we are afraid of? If we are fearful, are we then lacking in faith? What if a lack of faith is actually a fear that we won’t be heard? Heard by whom or what? By the divine, by nature, by other people, by oneself. Maybe we need to renew faith by restoring it in others through compassionate listening. Just listening. Not responding, or arguing, or deepening the divides. Just listening. And connecting.

Quote – Marcus Borg

(On the faithful expectation that our crying out will receive a response):

The Hebrew word for faith in the Old Testament is emoonah. What makes that word interesting is that it’s the sound that a baby donkey makes when it is calling for its mother. To appreciate that, you have to say emoonah so it sounds like that. If you want to hear the meaning of emoonah, you need to say it like braying. I sometimes think to myself, if you say it soft, it’s almost like braying. The point being that faith in the Hebrew Bible is like a baby donkey calling out or crying for its mother. There’s something kind of wonderful about that. There is an element…I don’t know if you want to say of desperation in it or not, but there certainly is an element of confidence also that the cry will be heard.

Picture of a section of the Berlin Wall that my daughter sent to me during her recent trip there. I’ll leave it here to deepen your contemplation of fear and faith.