Too often, the church, called to be rooted in faith, is instead paralyzed by fear. Evangelists seek souls by painting pictures of a terrorizing God anxious to condemn. This issue of The Other Side is filled with stories of folks who have wrestled with God's call to pass through fear into new life. A Haitian priest joins hands with the poor of his nation, challenging violence, injustice, and military rule with his conviction that all are children of a loving God. A writer breaks with his past to follow God into an unknown future.
Iraqi doctors risk their own safety to immerse themselves in the suffering of their people.
Peace activists put their lives on the line to speak out against weapons that maim and destroy. Believers face their own weakness, daring to allow it to draw them into deeper intimacy with God and with others. Fear can be a gift, a message from God. God invites us to faith-filled lives rooted in love, not fear. There, and only there, do we find security.