These words have been striking me in recent days...

Sunday's gospel told of the angel's appearance to Mary, and his subsequent exhortation: "Do not be afraid..."  In a book I picked up for spiritual reading during my convalescence, the author spoke of the power of St. John Paul II's use of this same phrase (found elsewhere in scripture).

In looking back at the year 2020, however, the sentiment of fear has been (and continues to be) a dominant one for many.  

Last night on the news broadcast, the fear was very pronounced, in the tone of the newscaster's voice and in the messages conveyed.  The fear was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife!  

And...there has been cause for fear: a deadly virus running rampant, rioting, violence, and unrest all over, and the list goes on.  

These problems really aren't new, however; they can even be read about in the scriptures.  Nonetheless, I can't recall one scripture verse telling us to be afraid of these threats.  In fact, the psalmist says "....therefore we do not fear, though the earth should rock or the mountains be cast into the sea."  (There are many other verses that stir our hearts to courage and confidence.)

Why shouldn't we fear?  Why do we not need to be anxious in the midst of so many terrible situations in our own lives, in our country, and around the world?  Because Jesus is our HOPE!  He's got this!

Recently, in another news report (I've seen a few of these lately), a woman being interviewed stated that the CoronaVirus vaccine was our hope.  This gave me pause; I thought, "No, these vaccines are not our hope; they may be wonderful tools, helping in this fight, but they are not our hope.  Jesus is our hope."  He is the one who tells us not to be afraid.

The author in the above-mentioned spiritual book talked about how instrumental JPII's words to the people of Poland were in the collapse of the communist regime in the 1980s.  This made me think.  Looking to Jesus, hoping in Him, and entrusting Him with our present causes of fear can be instrumental in our journey, too, out of this time of pandemic.  

"So we do not fear, though the earth shall rock..." "[for perfect love casts out fear."

The past day or two, I've been home sick.  As the saying goes, "Could be better...could be worse."  

Because of this, I haven't seen much more than my four walls since Tuesday afternoon.  Having had some chills that left me wanting to hunker down in bed, it didn't pay to get dressed yesterday.  Also, dressing would have taken energy (something that I don't currently have in abundance).  

This being said, my hair (bangs especially) was a bit wild.  That natural wave that I inherited from my mom's family, unchecked, goes a little crazy; I go through it each morning with a wet comb.

Last evening, my sister, mom, and lifelong friend had arranged a video call and invited me to join them.  Since I would not be attending our "Community Study/Recreation Night" for fear of "spreading the love" (my sickness), I was free to participate.  However, in my present circumstances, I was not eager to be on video.  At first, I just stayed in bed with the light off, but soon enough, was pressured to shed some light on the subject.  

Reluctantly, I put on my veil and flipped the light switch.  Not being terribly skilled at using the Tablet, and not feeing my best, I unknowingly gave the others a view of my wild hair (not my face).  

We got a good laugh out of it, though, when someone referred to this as the "big bang theory."  

A little humor and a nice visit (long overdue) were a good closing for a day spent alone.  

Times like this make me appreciate more the gift of friendship and human socialization  I pray that things change quickly and we can resume normal interactions without "social distancing," which is so contrary to normal, healthy, human behavior.