Words of Hope, In the Face of Fear

I am alarmed by the escalation of the ICE raids and violence in the US, and the killing of Renee Good. The president of the United States is intensifying his fight against his enemies: Democrats and anyone else who opposes him, even people in his own party who try to limit his power. Our temptation is to retreat to fear, to hide, or to become what he wants us to be—his adversary—and to fight. Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

The Christian response is to love. Read 1 Corinthians 13 and you will be reminded that love is not weak (it endures all things) and neither is it arrogant or resentful. Love stands in the place of hatred and is not moved. Love defends those suffering and welcomes them in. 

As Christians, our call is to a path of peace. 

We need to deepen our faith to meet the needs of this day—to learn spiritual practices, and the tools of peaceful resistance, and be ready to use them. We need to fill ourselves not with hate or fear, but with the love of Jesus, because this is the path of peace and healing to share with a divided world. 

In this Epiphany season, we celebrate the coming of God’s light in Jesus: “the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and, in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 

Guide our feet, Lord, we pray. 

—The Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath is Moderator of The United Church of Canada