1 John 4:8

“The night is dark and full of terrors,” says Melisandre in Game of Thrones, and the chilling fires of her cruelty in that series are the reality in too much of our world.  The headlines in any given day resound with words representing fear…Terrorism, Islamophobia, Homophobia…and it seems that every political candidate plays to and even encourages our deepest fears to rise to the surface and propel us to vote to keep the evil at bay.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.           1 John 4:18

"God is love"  1 John 4:8b

He came to the church tonight because the sign out front said there was a Taize service.  There wasn't.  It had been moved to last week and no one changed the sign.  The man was angry.  His father died last week, which is why he was in Boston, trying to help his 94-year-old mother cope with losing her partner of 72 years. He needed the solace of the service.  The pastor of the church apologized and invited him to stay for supper and the Bible study I was leading.  It took about 20 minutes of convincing and calming, but the man stayed.