Cheryl Strayed is an author with cajones, which is something you might not expect from either a) a woman or b) an author whose most recent work to be published in July is titled Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. That sounds like the title to a book about those hydrocephalic Precious Moments figures, but don’t be fooled; Strayed is savvy not sappy. Like her advice to a woman who wants to be a writer but is crippled by her conviction that she’ll never be as good as David Foster Wallace – “Write like a Mother------!” It’s not about Strayed’s finely tuned potty mouth, it’s about her earnest encouragement to stop being ruled and limited by fear.


This is a popular theme that has motivated people to do everything from eating Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches on Fear Factor to confronting their abuser, whether on Jerry Springer or more sanely in private.

I’m not so sure about the Hissing Cockroach part but not being ruled or limited by fear is at the heart of the good news in Jesus Christ. When fear calls the shots, whether in our personal lives or the life of the church, the good news turns bad. “Perfect love casts out all fear, for fear has to do with judgment”, says 1 John 4:10. This should be a mandatory tattoo on all our hearts if not our forearms so as to be reminded every day.

It’s not that our fears are all irrational or ungrounded. My guess is that the “crippled writer” who wrote to Dear Sugar never will be as good as Pulitzer finalist David Foster Wallace, whom the LA Times literary editor called "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years.” But does that mean she should not write at all? Does her fear of not being ranked among the highest echelon of authors mean she has nothing to say or that the world would be better off if she says nothing since it’s not only possible but very likely that she won’t be one of the very best authors in the last 20 years? Strayed says, “You’re probably right but, never the less, write like a Mother------!”

The sentiment of the Gospel is the same, though verbalized a little more gently But if you’ll grant me the Gospel sentiment while borrowing Strayed’s language it goes like this: “So you’re not going to help as many people in your life as Mother Theresa? Probably not, but you can still serve a few people like a Mother------!” “So you still have some nagging defects and persistent stumbling blocks in your life? Welcome to humanity, but you can still love others even with your limitations like a Mother------. “So it’s not hard for you to believe that God has unconditional love for everyone else in the world but you are somehow especially unlovable? You aren’t “special” in that way, so start believing like a Mother----- the love poured out on that cross is for you no less than anyone else.”

With you, committed to choosing Love over Fear,
Mark