May 15, 2025

This week Bishop Akiyama led the clergy of the Diocese in a discussion of fear. Leading us through the book “Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear: Choosing Trust over Safety in an Anxious Age” by Scott Bader-Saye, she presented the idea that fear can be a virtue.

Much like the passions we discussed in Defense against the Dark Arts, fear has a very real value and is necessary for our survival. It is only when fear is manipulated by falsehood and so becomes disordered that it becomes demonic, leading us into imagined fantasies and thus controlling our lives. We need fear, not only to preserve our physical lives, but our spiritual as well. When we refuse to fear, instead choosing either to retreat into safety or to annihilate those of whom we are afraid, we fail to venture into those places where Christ stands waiting. Healthy fear and faithful trust walk hand in hand.

In these anxious days, I hope we will all take time to examine our fears, discarding the “what if” illusions that control us, and using what remains to lead us closer to Christ where he stands in the dark places of this world.