“Transforming Fear into Joy”

“Transforming Fear into Joy”

Isaiah 35: 1-10 and Luke 1: 26-33, 46-53
Rev. Alison Longstaff
Church of the Good Shepherd, Dec 12, 2010

Today my talk is about the transformation of fear into joy. Mary’s song, also known as “the Magnificat,” is the perfect text for this topic. Set in the Gospel of Luke, which is all about turning the tables on injustice, the Magnificat sings of hope for the future and joy in the promise that all that is wrong in the world will be set right.

I have to say, at the end of a very tough personal year, transforming anything dark into something joyful is a topic near to my heart. And regardless of the pattern of any of our personal lives, we all currently live in dark and uncertain times. The global recession is highlighting the already too wide gap between the richest and the poorest among us. Our leaders seem to be making repeated poor choices, and the good seem to have their hands tied. Wars and oppression, human cruelty and greed seem to continue unabated despite all our supposed human enlightenment and “progress.”

So how does one celebrate the advent of “Joy” in such bleak times?

We must remember that Mary sung the Magnificat into her own dark time. While today most Christians worldwide believe she was carrying God incarnate in her belly as she sang, to all worldly eyes in her time, she just was illegitimately pregnant, and was only alive thanks to Joseph’s forgiveness. Mary had just escaped a possible stoning to death, and yet she sings into this uncertainty the joy and peace of being in God’s loving care. She sings with hope of God’s power to set everything right in the world, no matter how things looked.

Wow. How many of us, in a parallel situation to Mary’s could display such faith and peace? As for me, to quote the parable of The Little Red Hen, “‘Not I,’ said the pig.” (Though I suppose if an angel actually appeared directly to me and told me the God of all creation wanted me personally to know that everything would be okay, it might be easier.)

But since most of us will need to get by this year without the personal reassurance of a heavenly being, how do we face our own dark times, and transform that bleakness into a time of joy? How do we celebrate the advent of Joy if we are struggling with darkness?

Let us look more closely at today’s text. Right away, I am struck by some of the angel’s first words to Mary. Do you remember what they are? After he says, “Rejoice! You are blessed!” he says, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” He calls her by name, and reassures her that there is no reason to be afraid.

Pay attention here. This is not just a reassuring word to Mary in that moment, this is a reminder to each of us that God knows us intimately, and cares deeply about every detail of our lives. God calls each of us by name. The angel tells Mary that she is favoured by God, and need not fear. Each one of us is equally favoured by God. Equally. No lie. In this confidence, we can sing bravely into our dark times, right?

Now I can tell you, in the days and hours of my life when things are going really wrong, I do not at all feel favoured by God. The very strong feeling indeed is that I am decidedly UNfavoured by God. My son has heard me more than once over the past year announce in frustration, “The universe HATES me!” When things go terribly wrong, we can feel not only forgotten by God, but almost as if some dark force has a particular vendetta against us. “Is there a target on my back?!” you might cry in dismay. When things are going really wrong, how easy is it, honestly, to feel blessed by God? When bad news upon bad news strikes our story, many of us experience instead a feeling of our profound vulnerability in the face of a cold and uncaring reality. It is during these times when we are most susceptible to fear and despair. And it is during these times that we must push all the harder to “Fear not.” In these times, believing in God’s benevolence and loving care has to become a choice.

Yes, we can choose not to fear. What does choosing not to fear look like? Choosing not to fear happens when we choose to focus on where we are headed and where our hope lies, rather than to look down and around at all that is going wrong. It sounds as if the angel tells Mary not to feel fear, but that is not what he is saying. The angel is reminding all of us that fear doesn’t have to dominate our consciousness.

This interpretation puts a spin on “Fear Not” that I hadn’t previously considered. It doesn’t mean “don’t experience the emotions associated with setbacks and misfortune.” It means, “don’t let fear drag your focus into all that has and can still go wrong; keep focused on God and the good outcome that is the goal.” Or, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” To quote Mark Twain, “Courage is resistance to fear - the mastery of fear - not the absence of fear.” Or to quote Dr. Robert Anthony, “Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway.”

Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway. Simple! Well it is, and it isn’t simple. Like any good spiritual discipline, this takes practice. Acknowledging the fear and taking conscious positive action anyway takes practice. Every true spiritual path involves the practice of some sort of discipline. Mastering our fears – that is, acting bravely despite their presence - takes discipline and practice too. That is true courage. It is not easy. But it is utterly worth it. It means the difference between being frozen with fear or able to keep going. It means the difference between being crushed by despair or moving forward. It means the difference between hiding in our comfort zone or risking a little in the name of love.

This reminds me of when I was learning to drive. I recall wobbling my way nervously down the road, obsessively aware of the ditches on either side. Then my instructor gave me a tip. “Look up to where you are headed, and aim there. Then staying straight on the road will take care of itself.” Well I tell you, my aim straightened right out and my course became straight and true with that advice. I just needed to lift up my eyes. The same principle applied when I was learning to walk a balance beam. When I worried about falling step by step I wobbled much more than when I looked to the end of the beam and headed there.

So can we do this in our faith walk too? Of course we can. What happens when we are able to choose to keep looking ahead and not down spiritually? Mary’s first response was wonder. From fear and insecurity she moves into a place of being able to watch the miracle at work. She becomes able to appreciate the details of what was actually happening in her life by not focusing on what bad things could happen. Curiosity emerges when fear is prevented from dominating. Suffering becomes wonder.

It is a Swedenborgian principle that removing the negative makes room for the good. It isn’t so much that we choose to “be good.” Instead, we must choose to remove those things that block the good from flowing in.

And so it is true with “fearing not.” When we can shift our focus away from the darkness, we are choosing to focus on the light. This makes is much harder for the fear to drain our resources, and creates space in our consciousness for curiosity, wonder, and hope.

Fear transforms into wonder. Wonder opens our hearts to hope. And hope is the antidote to despair. It is the positive spiral that continually strengthens us, opposing the downward cycle of fear and despair that can reduce all we hope in to ashes.

This conscious focusing on the positive goal is a way we remove the things that stand between us and trust in God. When we can choose for positive focus and not fear, even in the face of darkness, we are choosing for joy.

Christmas is a time of contrasts. Sadness, loss, and loneliness can seem even more painful when all around us is supposed to be merry and bright. But if there is one thing I have learned from walking a long time in the cold it is this, that when the warmth comes, it will be that much more appreciated, treasured, and rich.

David said, "What time I am afraid, I will…trust…in You" (Psalm 56:3). We need never fear, because God IS in charge and all WILL be well. We will fear, we will struggle, because we are mortal, but we have options in the face of fear. Try not to look down. Focus on your goals and on God’s promise of a happy ending. Turn the tables on fear and darkness and choose for joy. Block out the negative thoughts and sing into the storm, and hope and joy will become your steady companions.

I would like to close with a poem by American poet, Maury Merkin.

Sing!
If not forever, through the night;
If not together then alone;
If not in tune then with a hearty sound
But sing.

Or hum.
If all the words can't be recalled,
Syllables will do;
Or pluck upon an instrument.
The meter matters too.
Enliven it with pulse
And hum.

Then dance
If you can find it in your heart to.
Use a step you've used before
Or learn a new one.
More's the better.
Abandon comes in handy,
Prance!
It's Life Time.