Written by the Rev. Liddy Barlow, executive minister of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, and brought to you by the Continuing Education Office at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Scripture

Psalm 27:1

“The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Devotional

In the dystopian novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, young people must enter a “fear landscape” as part of an initiation ritual. With group leaders monitoring their brain activity, they must endure a simulation of each one of their fears, one after another.

If I had to enter a fear landscape, I might never come out: my list of fears goes on and on. Snakes and spiders, house fire and plane crashes, failure and pain. Every time I turn on the news, I hear new reasons to be afraid.

But the Psalmist reminds us that the bright salvific light of God, like a flashlight to a spooky corner, sends each one of these fears packing. What indeed shall we fear, when we know Christ is with us? Five hundred years ago, a monk scratched these wise words into the wall of a Scottish abbey: “The wise fear nothing but God.”

Prayer

God my light and salvation, assure me of your presence and free me from my fear, so that I may trust in you with my whole heart, and in that trust find joy and peace. Amen.

Written by the Rev. Liddy Barlow, executive minister of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, and brought to you by the Continuing Education Office at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Scripture

Psalm 27:1

“The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Devotional

In the dystopian novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, young people must enter a “fear landscape” as part of an initiation ritual. With group leaders monitoring their brain activity, they must endure a simulation of each one of their fears, one after another.

If I had to enter a fear landscape, I might never come out: my list of fears goes on and on. Snakes and spiders, house fire and plane crashes, failure and pain. Every time I turn on the news, I hear new reasons to be afraid.

But the Psalmist reminds us that the bright salvific light of God, like a flashlight to a spooky corner, sends each one of these fears packing. What indeed shall we fear, when we know Christ is with us? Five hundred years ago, a monk scratched these wise words into the wall of a Scottish abbey: “The wise fear nothing but God.”

Prayer

God my light and salvation, assure me of your presence and free me from my fear, so that I may trust in you with my whole heart, and in that trust find joy and peace. Amen.