Reflections on Faith &
Life for the Years of Winter…
I face the end now with a
surprising absence of fear. Perhaps it is just resignation. After all, none of
us has an alternative to the end. Some see it as a beginning. I think I am in
that number. I have hope for a fearless life in that new place, whatever or
wherever it may be.
If hell is real, I suppose
that’s the place I have earned. But I have no fear of hell. I used up all my
fears in this place, in this life. Also, I don’t fear hell much because I have
more trust in God’s mercy than in Satan’s punishment.
When I say that my fears are
lessened in old age, I do not mean they are entirely gone. In this life, there
will always be fear, because in this world, there is evil. In this life there
is loss and pain and suffering. We cannot help but fear them. Even if I do not
fear for myself in this life, I fear for others. But I do not fear death.
The message of Easter is that
we need have no fear either of death or of fear itself, because resurrection
awaits. Christ does not take away our fears, but shares them with us, and when
they are realized, Christ shares with us the hurt. [1]
JRMcF
johnrobertmcfarland
1] I call that paschaltheism.
A Google search can’t find any mention of such a word, so apparently I created
it. [Instead Google suggests psychotheism.] Its root is “paschal,” as in Christ
being the paschal lamb, the sacrifice. It is the theology of Christ suffering
with us and us sharing in the suffering of Christ. I prefer paschal to the word “passion,”
traditionally used to denote the suffering of Christ, because the way we use
passion these days is almost the opposite of suffering. Sometimes it’s better
to use a word, paschal, we have to explain than a word everyone thinks they
already know.
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