I find the timing and the slightly different nature of this scripture quite the coincidence. Though perhaps there are no coincidences...
This is the 21st post in this series--the number that some research supports as the number of times/days one must take on a new task before it becomes a habit. Other research debunks this indicating it is effort, always, to form new patterns of behavior and maintain them. I do think the forming of new habits, behaviors, etc. is worth delving into (as that is the whole purpose of this project), and I plan write about it further in another post when I have more time... Yet, here it is: Day 21.
Notice, too, the subtle shift. Here it is not God re-assuring us. Or as Joanna suggests in her blog post that I linked to yesterday... not so much of a 'there-there' pat on the head kind of "fear not" but as a commandment "Fear Not." This is worth considered reflection... What if there were 11 Commandments? What if one of them was Be Not Afraid. Or maybe there were 12: Cause no fear. How differently would Christianity function in the world? Indeed, why, if "Fear Not" is the most repeated phrase in the Bible, do we not take it more seriously? Why do we call this kind of calm "zen" instead of "Christian"?
Anyway, back to what's different... It is us speaking. It is the Grand "We" that includes me with the author of the Psalm, as though we are finally forming a new habit, finally promising back to God "we will not fear" even when things are scary.
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