Skip to Main Content
Women of the ELCA
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Daily Grace
  • Contact
  • Ministry & Action
    • Discipleship
    • Justice
      • Human Trafficking
      • Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
      • Racial Justice Advocacy
      • Racial Justice Advocacy Network resources
      • Domestic Violence
    • Membership
    • Stewardship
      • Thankofferings
      • Faithful Friends
      • Katie’s Fund
      • Gift Planning
    • Special Initiatives
      • Rachel’s Day
      • Raising Up Healthy Women & Girls
    • Scholarships
      • Lutheran laywomen
      • Lutheran Ordained Ministry
  • Resources
  • About
    • History
    • Executive Board
    • Staff
    • Get Involved
  • Events
  • Belong
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Daily Grace
  • Contact
« Back to All Daily Grace

Fearful to Faithful

3.20.2015
|
Daily Grace

It’s tempting to assume that we are more vulnerable today, giving us more reason to be afraid than our parents or grandparents. Back then, people slept with doors unlocked. The world was a much safer place. Or was it?

We might recall that there was plenty of fear 40–50 years ago. In the time between World War II and Vietnam, my own extended family built a cellar in my grandmother’s back yard. We called it the bomb shelter, and we stocked it with canned goods. At school, we practiced hiding under our desks as if they could actually shield us from a nuclear weapon.

Legalized segregation was still the norm in some places. It was not uncommon to hear warnings from both directions about venturing across to the “other side of the railroad tracks.”

When fear is the driving force behind our choices, it is difficult to recognize the gift represented by the stranger. This does not mean God removes us from all danger, but rather that our lives are given to us that we might love God by loving one another—not distance ourselves on account of fear.

How might we live more faithfully and less fearfully?

This message was adapted from “From Fearful to Faithful” written by Audrey West that first appeared in the November 2008 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.

Share this post

Sign up for Daily Grace

Daily Grace is an on-the-go companion for your journey, offering a faith reflection every day. Encounter God’s extravagant, boundless and often surprising grace by signing up for a daily email message.

Back to home

8765 W. Higgins Rd.

Chicago IL 60631

800-638-3522

[email protected]

Stay In Touch

Sign up for the WELCA Newsletter

Explore WELCA
  • Ministry & Action
  • Daily Grace
  • Resource Library
  • Events
  • Blog
  • News
  • About WELCA
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Photos
Explore Publications

Bold Cafe

A Lutheran perspective for women of Christian faith or any woman who is interested in how faith relates to the issues facing women today.

Gather Magazine

A mix of articles, theological reflections, devotions and stories of comfort and challenge that help readers grow in faith.

Cafe Podcast

Subscribe to our podcast:

Click to subscribe

© Copyright 2025 Women of the ELCA. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
© Copyright 2025 Women of the ELCA. All Rights Reserved.