Do Not Be Afraid *bullshit cough*

"Do not be afraid" the angel said. 

Then handed Mary an AK47, 

a pack of bullets

and a steak for the dogs. 

"Do not be afraid" the angel said. 

Then beat Zechariah unconscious, 

and mute. 

So he didn't have to endure

9 months of pregnancy, 

30-odd years of parenting,

and the hideous conclusion

of his son's bloody death. 

"Do not be afraid" the angel said. 

Then gave Sarah an open womb, 

a good laugh, 

and the right to rape a slave girl. 

"Do not be afraid" the angel said. 

Then pulled Gideon out of his hole, 

gave him a pep talk

and let him loose

with a band of thirsty murderers. 

"Do not be afraid" the angel says. 

And the strangest consequences always follow. 

"Do not be afraid,

for I am with you says the Lord". 

Well you would know, 

this was all your idea in the first place. 

Do not be afraid, 

because like following orders

when you're a Private,

with a particularly thick-necked, vocal Sergeant, 

there is an incentive. 

But it's more than just 

a desire to avoid

a punishment 

created to make best use of

old toothbrushes

and polished concrete floors. 

It's a chance, 

an invitation. 

To be part of something better, 

bigger, weirder, scarier, more exciting and confusing

than anything we could devise,

if you gave us a million keyboards and a million monkeys. 

We've stepped into the mad-house with you. 

On a mad-cap mission

to a mad-dening world.

So we will be afraid. 

Which is why you have to keep repeating yourself. 

Please do. 

Amen.