Williams’ answer is deceptively simple, but it is not deceitful. It reminds me of a line from the Jungel prayer I posted last week; it has been haunting me ever since: “we are afraid to share with others what you have given us”. Generosity is suffocated, squeezed out, by fear.
So, what is it I’m afraid of? Why am I afraid to share? Admittedly, these can be trite questions, if they are asked in the wrong way or at the wrong time. But perhaps they have to be asked at some point. What do you think?
If you take N.T. Wright’s position that “Do not be afraid.” is the most mentioned commandment in Scripture, then I think we begin to understand that at the principle motivator of man is fear. And if this is so we immediately begin to understand Jesus’s teaching “Love…” is truly the only cure of our sickened condition.