Dear Wonderful Reader

Since I began this project a little over a month ago, you’ve stuck with me as I have tried to meditate, meander, and muddle through the first ten instances where “Do not be afraid” appears in the Bible. Thank you for journeying with me. I read every comment and my heart lifts when I see a ‘like’ on a post. I have found this experiment life-giving because of your community. I hope you find value in it, too.

Especially because, with 10 verses down, I am exactly 6.8 percent through the list. Only 135 “Do not be afraid” Biblical verses to go!

If you find that scary, I do as well.

When I began, I hoped to work my way through the Bible’s roughly 145 “Do not be afraid” verses in about 18 months. I’m mostly on track to do that by posting twice each week. That’s a lot of space in your inbox, so again, thank you for your generosity by allowing me to appear there.

We’ve made it through Genesis and Exodus. Ahead are some rather frightening Old Testament books, and I have no idea what to expect. My intention is not to put “spin” on any of these difficult, terrifying, and at times wondrous situations, but to try to uncover something I haven’t noticed before about the nature of fear and how the Divine comes to us in the midst of it.

I still face fear every day, but when I sit down to write about it and write to you, fear takes a back seat for a while, which is a lovely grace.

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash