Good News for 2020: "Fear not!"

A symbol of early Christianity: ichthys

During the Service of Lessons and Carols at St. John's UCC on Madeline Island yesterday, one of the readings had to do with the coming of John the Baptist. "Don't be afraid, Zechariah!" (Luke 1:13) Suddenly, I was reminded of something that happened years ago.

"Oh yes!" I thought. "The woman in Madison . . . . "

At an antiwar conference in Madison, WI, I sat next to a new acquaintance before one of the conference sessions. I noticed she wore a circular pendant with the outline of a fish. I recognized it as a Christian symbol, but I hadn't thought of her as a particularly "churchy" person. I was curious about what the pendant meant to her, so I asked her to tell me about it.

"It's a symbol of early Christianity," she told me. And then she added, "You know, for me, of all the things Jesus said, the most important is this: 'Fear not.' He says it in about 20 different situations." (See, for instance, Luke 12:32)

And at that moment, I realized she had seized a moment to testify to the Good News to me -- a person who may not have struck her as particularly "churchy." Years after

I was reminded of this moment during the Service of Lessons and Carols at St. John's UCC on Madeline Island yesterday. "Don't be afraid, Zechariah!" (Luke 1:13) "Oh yes!" I thought. "The woman in Madison . . . . "

Last night, my son sent a text with a sketch my 2-year-old granddaughter made.

Fish by Clem

Coincidence? Perhaps . . . .

(One of my goals for 2020 is to notice and amplify the diverse ways people share the Good News.)

Related post:

The Children Are Waiting