What makes you afraid, or anxious, or uncomfortable?

Luke 8:35-37

Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.

Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear.

Jesus has just healed a man.  The reaction from everyone else is fear.  Why? Isn’t healing a good thing?  Something to be embraced and celebrated?  What is going on?

Marilou and I are both retiring this month, me on June 30th, Marilou yesterday, June 18th.  We are both feeling a lot of trepidation and anxiety.  Why?  Isn’t retirement a good thing?  Something to be embraced and celebrated?  What is going on?

I think I know what is going on, in both of these situations.  Humans are naturally anxious and fearful when they are faced with the unknown, a situation that is new, different, and hard to understand.  The people of Gerasene did not understand what Jesus had done, or how he did it.  This made them afraid.  Marilou and I don’t know what lies ahead in retirement, this makes us anxious.  The two situations not really comparable, but …. Human nature is human nature. 

Our faith gives us resources to deal with situations that make us anxious, fearful or uncomfortable.  As our Creed says, “We are not alone.  We live in God’s world.”  The man Jesus healed, “… went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.”   

What makes you afraid, or anxious, or uncomfortable?  When you are confronted with the unknown, the new, the difficult, remember that you are not alone, God is with you, Jesus is with you.