Jenny’s letter 9th August

Dear Friends,

This week I have been helping my elder daughter Rachael move from London to Leeds. Moving house is exhausting. There are boxes everywhere, endless decisions and, somewhere underneath it all, the knowledge that life is changing. Change can be exciting, but it can also be frightening. Even when the change is good, we can wonder: Will this be all right? What happens next? Fear is a powerful thing.

We have seen that in a much darker way in Thetford this week, where protests about asylum seekers and immigration turned ugly, with clashes with police and arrests. There are real questions about immigration, housing, public services and how we welcome and support people who come to this country. Christians do not have to agree about every political answer. But we do have to be very careful about fear.

Fear can make all strangers into threats. It can turn uncertainty into anger and persuade us that if life feels insecure, somebody else must be to blame. When fear becomes hatred, intimidation or violence, we have crossed a line that Christians should never be comfortable crossing.

In Sunday’s Gospel, the disciples are frightened too. They are in a boat, battered by the waves. Then they see Jesus walking towards them across the water and are terrified. Jesus says, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14. 27). Peter gets out of the boat and, for a few moments, walks towards Jesus. Then he notices the wind. Fear takes over, and he begins to sink.

I love this story (Jesus holding Peter is an image on my green stole) because Jesus does not tell Peter that the storm is imaginary. The wind is strong. The water is dangerous. Peter is vulnerable. Faith is not pretending there is nothing to fear. Faith is refusing to let fear become the thing that leads us. Some fears arise from genuine concerns and should be listened to. But fear is a dangerous guide, especially when it shapes how we see other people.

A few days ago, Rachael’s move felt enormous: boxes, decisions, uncertainty and exhaustion. Now most of the boxes are unpacked, and the unfamiliar flat is beginning to feel like home.

Communities face change too. But we cannot allow fear to turn people we do not know into people we fear, or people we fear into people we blame.

Whether change is in our own lives or on the streets of our communities, perhaps the question is not whether we are afraid, but what we allow fear to do. And into all of it come the words of Jesus:

“Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.” May you travel through this and every week with his words in your heart.