Fear Not

"Fear not...do not be afraid." So spoke angels in Matthew's and Luke's accounts of the birth of Jesus.

I long to hear angels speak to me. I am, in many ways, a somewhat fearful person...more than cautious, less than timid. Many others may not see that in me, because I try to keep my fears hidden, particularly from myself. But I know that I constantly turn over in my mind everything that might go wrong, the imposing barriers that I might face, and threats to which my brave act or definitive word might subject me. And what if–God forbid!–I am wrong? I hesitate, a lot, out of fear.

Angelic assurance might overcome those fears...if I were sure those comforting angels were real.

Luke's angels tell Mary first, and then the shepherds, to "fear not." Why? Because Mary has found favor with God, and is about to become the center of Luke's infancy narratives. She has a promise to fulfill. Because the shepherds will soon hear "good news of great joy for all the people," and will publicly glorify and praise God because of that news. They have a job to do.

Matthew's angels tell Joseph not to "be afraid to take Mary as your wife." Why? Because Joseph will be the center, and the hero, of Matthew's infancy tales. Joseph has work to do.

But King Herod is "frightened, and all Jerusalem with him." The King's fear infests the entire political and social establishment, and so the "slaughter of innocents" is required. What is a fearful king to do?

Through angel-inspired dreams, the wise men are warned to find another route home and Joseph is warned to take his family to Egypt's safety and then back to Nazareth. Herod's fear prompts warnings from God to vulnerable travelers. God warns rich and poor alike to know the real dangers posed by fearful human power and wealth.

These biblical commands to "fear not" prepare the way for holy orders. Orders that will command those who hear them to change their plans and even to take risks to accomplish the purposes of God. "Do not be afraid" is not assurance that the individual who hears that imperative can expect to be kept safe above the fray, in peaceful isolation from the fury of the world. "Fear not" is what it takes, sooner or later, to be useful for the world.

"Fear not" counters the prevailing message of a world driven by fear. Herod is frightened, and all Jerusalem is frightened with him, because something stronger than fear is taking root right under royal power's own nose. Things like hope, love, peace. Those things, in that child.

Our nation, like our world, has never been free of reasons to fear. So much can go wrong, and so much has. It is the nature of life itself.

But since September 11, 2001, fear has been a primary motivator of many of our national decisions. It is a fear so great we call it "terror," extreme fear.

For fifteen years our leaders and we ourselves have talked and talked and talked about terror. We have codified and regularized and indexed and fought terror on as many fronts as we can find. We have even invented fronts just to be sure we cover all the bases.

And so in 2016 we were willing to submit ourselves to a nation-wide political campaign built upon fear and terror. We elected leaders who successfully foisted their fright upon "all Jerusalem," which shudders in the face of fear and terror, real and imagined.

But there is, and in my better moments I hear, a contrary word, which I take to be the word of angels, in my more open moments: "Fear not. Hope, love, peace...those things, this child...will prevail."

The moral arc of the universe still bends toward justice, but it looks to have developed a twist or detour most did not see coming. Herod's infanticide was such a twist, and there have been many others through the centuries. Nevertheless that arc, imperfect as it is, still shines, and is still worth any courage I might possess to follow. "Fear not...do not be afraid."

"Peace on earth, good will to all" endures, from Bethlehem's child to the end of the arc he will follow.  Rise up, shepherd, and follow.

The Russians are...they're HERE!

Why would Donald Trump, who ran his presidential campaign based at least in part upon suspicion of "the other", play nice with our nation's greatest global adversary, Russia? And why is he seeming to work so hard at getting himself and the intelligence community get off to a really bad start?

For one thing, Donald Trump knows everything, apparently intuitively. His narcissistic personality cannot accept anything being known by anyone else that he himself does not already know for himself. "Intelligence briefings?" Who needs them when you already know what is going to be said? It serves Trump's interests and personality well to call into question the only folks whom many believe could know things he doesn't know.

Trump knows Russia is filled with really good guys, from the very top of the Kremlin down to her richest oil barons. Maybe Russian spy agencies have briefed him on their character. They are so good that the best qualified person for Secretary of State is someone who knows how to "make deals" with the honorable and trustworthy Russians. Could anything go wrong?

Well, there's Syria. Working in concert with Russia, the Syrian army is rounding up and apparently executing thousands of civilian men, women, and children. We can and many have blamed the Obama administration for not stopping the Syrian civil war, but few options have seemed real-world viable. We tried to do deals with Russia in the name of fighting terrorism, and Aleppo's horror is the result.  We should accept blame where blame is due, but we must not reward Russia.

If Russia and/or Russia's agents hacked into our election system in order to influence the outcome of November's presidential vote, we need to know it and we need to know it now. It would be regrettable if President Obama were aware of that possibility before the election and held off on making it public for fear of seeming to favor the Clinton campaign. His penchant for extreme caution has been one of his flaws.  You can think a problem too much.

But now we know at least something, and a number of electors are asking for intelligence briefings before they vote. They need to know if the man they are supposed to elect as our president has honestly earned their votes. More power to them.

And  why is this so difficult for the President-elect and his minions? Becaue there is money involved. Real money to be made by real corporations and by a real tycoon who sort-of claims to be willing to sever his ties to his many business interests in order to serve the all people of the United States of America. Desperate Mexicans and scary Moslems and fleeing refugees and the like have little to offer a man already made of billions who stands poised to make billions more as President of the richest nation on earth and Commander-in-Chief of the planet's most powerful military. He can't afford–literally, cannot afford–to think too much about anything else.

I am not an uncritical fan of the CIA and other such agencies, but I believe they play important roles in protecting our country and its interests. Government leaders and the intelligence community should respect and trust each other, and even allow some room for the benefits of doubt. Carefully listening to each other is a must. At the same time, the men and women we elect must not abdicate their responsibility to question closely and persistently the findings of intelligence experts, always considering those findings in the broadest possible context of everything known about a situation. It's complicated, this job of being the most powerful person on earth. Trump seems intent on not accepting that truth.

One thing for sure: Hillary Clinton's carelessness in using her own email server while Secretary of State is mere child's play compared to what the Trump folks seem to have been up to. Can anyone (except Trump and company) doubt that we need to know the full story? And to know it as quickly as possible?

With every appointment, every tweet, Donald...

...Trump gives more reasons he should not be President of the United States. The head of a fast food company heading the Labor Department? Underpaid jobs for everybody!

This country does not need...

This country does not need Donald Trump taking a victory lap to the cheers of his supporters. It needs Donald Trump to assure this nation that he means it when he says he wants to bring us together, and then to prove his intentions by surrounding himself with people who will assure the liberties of all Americans.

This country does not need the likes of Mitt Romney licking Trump's boots to curry his favor and secure a place at his right hand. It needs Republicans who opposed him to show they did so on principle and to speak against his worst excesses and most egregious appointments. I'm talking to you, John Kasich. Bob Portman, too. Your silence is deafening.

This country does not need the Democrats to keep people like Nancy Pelosi in positions of party leadership. Like Hillary Clinton and Ted Strickland, a good person, but with a ton of baggage and no new ideas. Who will listen to her, especially in the shadow of the Democrats' multiple defeats which she helped bring down on them? We need a credible opposition. Now.