fear, of course.

The line bothers me quite a bit: "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 

It bothers me because a) it says fear is good and I rarely believe that and b) people use it to fight back on love and or grace and or mercy. 

So, I try to think of metaphors often. 

In the last few weeks I've been afraid of sun, of waves, of the ocean, of monk seals. 

Sun is terrifying when you sit in it all day without sunscreen. 

Waves can kill. 

The ocean, of course, is full of mystery and depth and animals and currents and shore breaks. 

And monk seals will bite you if you get too close. 

But that fear, that's a whole different kind of fear. That's a fear that enables you to enjoy the sun, to play in the waves, to swim in the ocean, and to appreciate the monk seal. 

It enables you to enjoy without hurting yourself. 

If that's the fear of God we're talking about, I'm all in.