{"id":704,"date":"2017-12-04T11:36:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T16:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/?p=704"},"modified":"2017-12-04T11:36:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T16:36:20","slug":"radically-unafraid-the-call-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/radically-unafraid-the-call-of-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"Radically Unafraid: the call of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a> \"\"An angel called Thelma, Jan L Richardson<\/a><\/p>\n

The angel came to Mary and said what angels say: “Do not be afraid.”<\/p>\n

Is it a command? A suggestion? An offer of comfort? All of the above?
\nAll of the above, I think.
\nWhen we are too afraid to imagine\u00a0not<\/em> being afraid: it is a command.
\nWhen we aren’t sure if fear is a viable response: it is a suggestion that encourages other possibilities.
\nWhen we are too frozen by fear to move or act: it is a word of comfort that fear is not necessary.<\/p>\n

Right now, We really need to hear what the angels have to say.
\nWe need to not be afraid<\/em>.
\nIt is the radical call of the Holy to live differently.<\/p>\n

Right now, I have a good and solid foundation of anger. It helps me not to be afraid. I am angry at the injustices that have multiplied and expanded under Trump. I am angry about the systemic depth of cultural sexism, racism, and homophobia. \u00a0I am angry that the ‘light (we) hold beside the golden door’ is dimmed.
\nBut for all that anger, I am also afraid.
\nI am afraid that we may not be able to recover our democracy.
\nI’m afraid that people will be imprisoned, lynched, put to death.
\nI am afraid Donald Trump will start a nuclear war to deter the investigation into his treasonous administration.<\/p>\n

We need this season of angels telling us not to be afraid. For one thing fear paralyzes. Like Mary, We need to be able to be a part of all of us who are trying to bring about extraordinary change. We need to not be afraid to travel to places we haven’t been and do things haven’t done with people we do not know while living under an oppressive regime.
\nWe need to nurture justice, peace, and hope in our very beings and \u00a0birth the reality of those things into the world.
\nAnd we can only do it if we are foolishly unafraid.<\/p>\n

Being unafraid. There’s the rub. It is not easy. It is clearly, only, and absolutely a choice. We must choose<\/em> to NOT be afraid over and over again. Sometimes moment to moment.
\nLet this be our spiritual practice in this sacred season and beyond: to choose to be unafraid.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When fear does not constrict us we are empowered to act. So choose power over fear. Love over fear. Justice over fear. Peace over fear. The world needs us to be not afraid.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An angel called Thelma, Jan L Richardson The angel came to Mary and said what angels say: “Do not be afraid.” Is it a command? A suggestion? An offer of comfort? All of the above? All of the above, I think. When we are too afraid to imagine\u00a0not being afraid: it is a command. When … Continue reading Radically Unafraid: the call of Advent<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,13,21,25,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":708,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}