Second Friday in Advent -- Johann Arnold

A Reflection on Johann C. Arnold’s Be Not Afraid (pp. 150-55)

All of us are afraid of something, aren’t we? Fear is part of being human. Some of us are afraid of speaking in public or being in the spotlight. Some of us fear heights like standing on the top of a tall building or cliff. Others fear spiders. Or snakes. Some people fear being alone. Most of us fear failure or rejection or not being liked by others.  

I’ll let you in on a little secret from my childhood. When I was a little boy I was terrified of the water – in particular, swimming or diving into the water. One of my most vivid childhood memories was from going to the local swimming pool with my mother when I was first learning to swim (something I to this day do not do very well). I was probably three or four years old. Eager to teach me how to swim, she asked me to stand on the side of the pool, and then she waded out into the middle of the pool, maybe 10 feet from the side. The water wasn’t that deep, maybe four feet or so, but to a little boy it seemed bottomless.

So, there I was standing on the side of the pool looking into the great, blue depths of the water, with my mother standing in the middle of the pool signaling for me to jump.“ Just jump and start swimming over to me! I’ll catch you if you need help,” she assured me. But I was frozen with fear. I just stood there on the side, staring into the water, terrified that I would drown if I jumped, that I wouldn’t be able to swim, that I would humiliate myself.  

Eventually, of course, I somehow overcame that fear and jumped. It wasn’t pretty, I’m sure. The first few times, I flailed wildly, gasping for air, as my head would bob in and out of the water. But sure enough, true to her word, my mother would always come to my rescue, gently gripping me with her hands under my arms. And with each successive jump, I learned more and more to trust her. Until, gradually, I stopped being afraid.

As Johann Arnold points out, the Gospel message – from Gabriel’s news to Mary to the risen Christ’s parting words to his disciples – consistently urges us to “be not afraid.” For, as Peter writes in one of his epistles, perfect love casts out all fear. And God is perfect love.  Trusting in God allows us to let go of our fears. Easier said than done, of course. But this is precisely one of the challenges of discipleship. Learning to trust. Precisely because God dared to become human, and overcame on the Cross all that makes us afraid, we are freed from fear so that we can love: love each other, love the world, love all of creation.  

None of this is to say that life will be easy. The Gospel promise does not mean that suffering goes away, or that life won’t be hard, or that there won’t be times of great trial and pain. Indeed, the way of the Cross says just the opposite. Living a true life requires sacrifice. But what the Gospel does promise is that suffering and pain and death will not, will never, have the final say. Like a mother standing with her arms outstretched in the middle of the pool, God is saying: Trust me, I will catch you, I promise.

Johann Heinrich Arnold (1913-1982) was an Elder in the Bruderhof Community, an Anabaptist movement that believes in living in community and sharing goods and resources in common as did some of the earliest Christians as reported in the Book of Acts.