"Do not be afraid" is one of the most common statements in the bible. "Do not be afraid" appears 365 times - one for each day of the year. And yet, fear is a natural and normal human response. There are lots of reasons to be afraid, and when we consider the story of Gabriel's visit to Mary to inform her that she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus, fear seems like a reasonable response. However, what we learned through our conversation with Frank Rogers on Sunday is that one way to read this passage is to recognize that the angel isn't telling her to avoid her fear. Rather he is inviting her to not succumb to it, not to become enmeshed with her fear, and to invite the Sacred inside of her so that she can work through her fears. We tried to work through this amazing interpretation in today's conversation.

Books that we mentioned: Practicing Compassion by Frank Rogers Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus by Frank Rogers From Mindfulness to Heartfulness: A Journey of Transformation Through the Science of Embodiment by Alane Daugherty www.TheLoftLA.org