Rev. Vicky's Message April 30, 2026

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m guessing that I am not alone in finding myself (with all that is going on in our nation and the world) consistently focusing on letting go of fear by breathing into God…or more specifically:

Breathing in Love, Breathing out Fear

I read a blog post (The Cottage 9-24-25) by Christian historian and author, Diana Butler Bass, that was referenced in yesterday’s Center for Action and Contemplation Meditation, where she shared her premise that “the point of Jesus’s life” was to teach us how to overcome fear, or more explicitly, that “Perfect love casts out fear…” (1 John 4.18)

Noting that Jesus’ life began with an angel telling Mary, “be not afraid,” and concluded with Jesus in the upper room with his disciples, sharing the Last Supper, saying:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Bass traces this theme throughout Jesus’s life and afterlife teachings, noting that in his first appearance after the crucifixion (according to the Gospel of John), Jesus again finds the disciples afraid and assures them in John 20.19-20:

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then the disciples rejoiced… Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you…’ When he had said this, he breathed on them…” illustrating the sacred connection between breath and inner peace.

While acknowledging that fear is a basic and universal emotion, part of our biology, and a necessary contributor to human survival, Bass affirms that Jesus’s assurance is also true, noting:

“When the disciples actually step away from the life they knew and respond to Jesus’ invitation to live differently, they loosen up, open up. After they witness the healings and miracles, their stress abates. They see how the crowds love Jesus. That seems to soften them. As they learn to love one another. They experience how love overcomes fear.”

And, again, as the author of 1John later wrote,“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…”

In other words, as taught by Henri Nouwen, Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer, and theologian, the fundamental choice in life is between living in the House of Fear or the House of Love.

“The opposite of fear is love. The opposite of love is fear, not hate.”

I think the first time I was exposed to this teaching was in A Course In Miracles, and it was mind and life transforming for me. Discovering Unity both expanded and reinforced this principle. I am truly grateful for this awareness – especially in times such as ours where, as Bass suggests, our political culture has embraced fear as a marketing strategy, potentially reducing us to an almost primal and permanent state of anxiety. And causing, in her words, the sense that “There’s no room to breathe.”

Until….”Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you….’ When he had said this, he breathed on them…”

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

And, the door opens toward love — the love of God, the love of neighbor.

Like Bass, I can’t explain it – but I know that it is right. And I feel it. When fear begins to take over, I breathe… I let Spirit breath me… I breathe in Love and breathe out Fear, until I can breathe in Peace and breathe out Love.

Breathe in Peace

Breathe out Love

Peace, love. Peace, love.  

Fear abates.  

Perfect love casts out fear.

I hope you will join us this Sunday as we explore the sacred practice of Ahimsa, which I am coming to understand as “perfect love casting out fear.”

Blessings, Rev. Vicky