Go Forth Without Fear

Rev’d Jon Swales 2025, after reading  the words of Father Zosima in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (Book Two, Chapter Three: )

Do not be afraid.  

Bid farewell to fear.  

There is no shadow so deep  

that love cannot reach it,  

no sin so vast  

it could exhaust the boundless  

mercy of God.  

Repentance is  

but a turning,  

a quiet yielding to the truth  

that grace flows unending,  

even to the farthest places of the heart.  

Imagine this:  

more rejoicing in heaven  

over one who returns,  

broken and bare,  

than over those who never strayed.  

Do not carry the 

weight of bitterness;  

forgiveness is yours—  

a balm to wounds unseen,  

a release into freedom.  

If you repent,  

you will find love waiting,  

calling your name,  

not as a distant promise,  

but as the ground beneath your feet.  

And in love,  

you are one with God,  

who does not count wrongs  

but gathers all things into wholeness.  

There is not a hurt he will not heal.

Even now,  

with your sin,  

in your brokenness,  

you are loved.  

Even the weight you carry  

becomes but a thread in the tapestry of redemption.  

Love is treasure enough,  

a beauty to redeem the world,  

to cover every failure.  

You see—  

you will one day behold its face,  

and Love Himself will win.  

So go,  

with no fear,  

and let love be your guide.