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Fear is a strange thing. On the one hand, it is essential to survival. When my daughter was at nursery, they called her ‘daredevil’ because she kept jumping off any surface she could climb onto. Teaching her appropriate fear was essential to her survival, and mine as a parent. Equally, parenting often means walking with her as she faces her fears. I guess this battle between good and bad fear is something all human beings face in their own ways. President Trump came out of hospital saying, Don’t be afraid! The question is, what is appropriate to be afraid of, what should we simply not be afraid of, and what is there that is scary, but must be faced?

I have had long Covid for the last 6 months. I haven’t had a day without a cough, a day without a headache, fatigue, or shortness of breath. Do I fear the virus? Yes. The virus is destructive. I know its power to wreak on someone who was young and healthy. And so I wear a mask in public, follow social distancing, wash my hands, even though I may be immune, because I want to live well, going to the shops, or a café, without risking spreading this virus to others. Not out of fear, but out of care and reasonable evaluation of the risks. Facing fear is not pretending there is nothing to be afraid of; it is not denying the power of what we face. Rather, it is a conscious decision to carry on living in a way appropriate to what we face.

It makes me smile that the most common command in the Bible is not something about ethics, but, ‘Do not be afraid’. If you need to tell me not to be afraid, it is by definition because there is something to be afraid of! But what matters is what usually comes after ‘Do not be afraid’: ‘for I am with you’. Not There’s nothing to be afraid of. Rather, let’s face the reality of this deeply fearful thing, and walk together in tackling it. So when I think of Covid, and my experience of it, I know there is much to be afraid of. I also know that I am only coping because I have a sense of God’s presence with me, the support of those I love, and the knowledge that all of us, in this country, are facing this together. When I see someone else in a mask, what I see is not fear, but someone saying, ‘I am with you’.