March 25: On Cowardice & Fear
♫ Music:
Day 29 - Wednesday, March 25
Rung #21: ON COWARDICE & FEAR
Scriptures: Joshua 14:8; Proverbs 29:25; Psalm 56:3-4; 1 John 4:18|
[Joshua said] “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully.” The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in God. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What mere man can do to me?” There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
Poetry:
Trust
by Thomas R. Smith
It’s like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.
The package left with the disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens of strangers—
all show up at their intended destinations.
The theft that could have happened doesn’t.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river, even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.
And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can’t read the address.
ON COWARDICE & FEAR
I began writing this devotional on March 11, 2020 - just a few hours after the White House released a statement officially recognizing the coronavirus global health crisis as a pandemic. Within minutes, the NBA suspended their season, and actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, shared they were among those diagnosed. These headlines (and many more since then) filled my news feed back-to-back. Buzz, buzz, buzz.
I tried to avoid fear. However, as these updates filled my phone and TV screens, I felt compelled to read each of the just-released articles to “answer” each new question that accompanied the breaking news stories. Even though I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t afraid, my constant refreshing of my news feed suggested otherwise. Sitting there on my couch that evening, was when I realized I had actually forgotten which season we were in -- Lent. I’d been so distracted that I had forgotten. That’s when fear began making its own suggestions about reality.
Fear distracts. It crowds and clouds our rhythms of reflection. That evening as news coverage about the virus started unfolding at an unprecedented rate, I felt the Spirit nudge me to open my devotional assignment. Low and behold, a few months ago, I had chosen to write on fear. I began reading through the verses selected for today’s scripture reading: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in God. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust” (Psalm 56:3-4). We certainly need this reminder today. We need the Lord’s help to subside the fear that may cloud our focus so we can engage our hearts in this season of remembering and embracing the reality of His life, death, and resurrection.
The art selection presented to you today is the sculptures on the exterior of Bath Abbey which represent the ladder in Jacob’s dream recorded in the book of Genesis. While Jacob flees from Canaan to Haran, he has a dream in which he sees a stairway (or ladder) extending from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. At the top of the ladder, the Lord calls out to Jacob announcing His presence, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac… I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go” (Gen. 28:13,15).
The ladder Jacob encounters in his dream reminds us of the ladder we tread as we grow as disciples of Christ -- the ladder that serves as the theme for this year’s Lenten devotional. The Lord guides the placement of our hands and feet and directs our gaze upward toward Him as we press on in this life. We need not fear. However, even when we do fear and forget, God, in His grace, gently reminds us to trust Him in all things, big and small. During pandemics and when “we take our car to a new mechanic”.
He is both our aim at the top of the ladder and the One who is with us as we climb.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
We ask for you to graciously remind us of your assured presence. Each day, please lift our gaze to you so that we may remember your goodness.
Amen
Mairin McCuistion
Alumni and Public Relations Specialist
Torrey Honors Institute
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, poetry, and devotional writer selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Art:
Ladder of Virtues (also referred to as Jacob’s Ladder)
Unknown Artist
16th c.
Stone reliefs
West facade of Bath Abbey
Bath, England
After visiting Bath in 1499, Bishop Oliver King found the Norman cathedral in serious disrepair. According to later accounts, Bishop King had a dream in which he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder from Heaven as he heard a voice that said, “Let an olive establish the crown and let a king restore the church.” He took this as a sign from God and undertook its rebuilding, including commissioning the stone carving on the West front of the Abbey (completed after his death) with angels ascending and descending ladders on either side of the main window to commemorate the dream. It is an arduous undertaking, requiring these messengers of God to pull and stretch to move from rung to rung. At least one angel clings to the face of the building, resting briefly amidst the perilous climb. The figure at the top on this north ladder is believed to be Paul, holding a book, and Peter is at the top of the south ladder holding a lyre. There are also two carvings of a crown through which an olive tree is growing, a visual play on the name of Bishop Oliver King. There has been a place of Christian worship on the site of Bath Abbey for over 1,200 years and it continues to run as a living church today. The present abbey is the last great medieval cathedral to have been built in England. Building work began around 1499 under Bishop Oliver King, but the cathedral was not completed and used as a parish church until 1616. Three different churches have occupied the site of today’s abbey since 757 AD. First, an Anglo-Saxon monastery was constructed but then pulled down by the Normans; then work to build an enormous Norman cathedral began around 1090, but the building lay in ruins by the late 15th century; and finally, the present abbey as we now know was constructed. Upon Henry VIII’s orders to dissolve the monasteries across the country in 1539, the formerly Benedictine abbey lay in ruins for more than 70 years. You could have bought the abbey for 500 marks (roughly the equivalent of £160,000) in 1539 when the abbey’s commissioners put the church on sale to the city, but remarkably this was turned down. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture with one of the finest examples of a fan-vaulted ceiling in England.
https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/15-little-known-facts-bath-abbey/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Abbey
About the Artist:
Unknown Artist
About the Music:
“Fear Not” from the album Sing: Creation Songs
The Lyrics:
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
If you're scared of the dark, I'll be your guiding light
If the flood waters come, they won't wash you aside
If you're caught in a storm, I'm safe place to hide
Don't be afraid, I am with you
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
And if you need a friend, oh, I won't let you down
If you feel the earth shaking, I'm your solid ground
If you're feeling alone, and like no one is around
Don't be afraid, I am with you
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
Don't you forget that I made you
Don't believe that you're not enough
I'll never leave or forsake you
Try to remember my love
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
Fear not, for I have redeemed you
I've called you by name, you are mine
I have called you by name, you are mine
You are mine
About the Composer/Performer/Lyricist
Folk singer-songwriter Ellie Holcomb (b. 1982) was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She comes from a musical family and started her professional musical career in the same band as her husband, singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb. She has released multiple solo albums, including a children’s album entitled Sing: Creation Songs with companion children’s book Who Sang the First Song?
https://www.ellieholcomb.com/
About the Poet:
Thomas R. Smith (b. 1948) is an American poet, essayist, teacher, and editor. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals in the U.S. and internationally. His poems have been featured on The Writer's Almanac, a syndicated NPR program and podcast hosted by Garrison Keillor. Smith’s work was also selected for The Best American Poetry 1999 and in former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's syndicated newspaper column, American Life in Poetry. Smith has described his own work as drawing from nature and the landscape of his Wisconsin home. Smith has fifteen books of his poetry published and his latest, Windy Day at Kabekona: New and Selected Prose Poems, was published in 2018.. His poetry criticism has been published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Great River Review, Ruminator Review, and other periodicals. He teaches poetry at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_R._Smith_(poet)
About the Devotion Writer:
Mairin McCuistion
Alumni and Public Relations Specialist
Torrey Honors Institute Alumna
Biola University
Mairin McCuistion is passionate about holistic education, the key role it plays in the ministry of reconciliation, and her calling to bring people together in strong and meaningful connection. Mairin is an alumna of Torrey Honors and Biola University and serves on the advisory board at IDEOS Institute. She and her husband, Parous, live in Los Angeles’ South Bay.