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Good morning. .It’s Friday 13th. There’s a name for it, you know. If Friday 13th fills someone with a sense of fear and foreboding then they may have what’s known as Friggatriskaidekaphobia. Symptoms range from mild anxiety to full-blown panic attacks. However in 2008 the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics found that fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur on Friday13th compared with other Fridays.

Human beings can have phobias about almost anything. We've all heard of claustrophobia and agoraphobia, but how about Arachibutyrophobia – that’s the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. And I kid you not, the fear of sticking your neck out is known as – Giraffeophobia. 


Of course there is a lot to be genuinely scared of in this world. But it’s sad when our lives are ruled by fear and or our lives constrained by anxiety.
Fear of failure can hold us back. Fear of rejection or fear of commitment can limit our relationships. Fear of what others will think and say can stop us from being ourselves and flourishing.

The Psalmist writes: ‘The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ And the New Testament adds
‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.’
ÌýSo at the risk of sticking my neck out, I’d like to wish you a very good Friday 13th, that we may use today to try to let go of some of our constraining fears.
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Lord God, In the midst of fear fill me with your peace. Deliver me from fear and fill me with your love. Amen.
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