***Note: The first part of the audio file was corrupted so what is posted here is about four or five minutes into the sermon.
Readings: Jeremiah 1:1-10
Quotes:
Pema Chodren from her book When Things Fall Apart:
“Fear is a universal experience. Even the smallest insect feels it. We wade in tidal pools and put our finger near the soft, open bodies of sea anemones and they close up. Everything spontaneously does that. It’s not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we all share. We react against the possibility of loneliness, of death, of not having anything to hold onto.”
Chris Poblete from The Two Fears:
“To fear something is to give credence to its power over you. Credence is not a word we hear a lot. Let me explain. When children are afraid of the dark, they give credence to the power that darkness has over them—fear of what could be lurking in the shadows. When one fears being alone, he gives credence to the power of loneliness over him—he accepts the true possibility that he will never experience fulfilling companionship.”