Before God provides an explanation of what is happening, God provides some eternal advice: Fear not, do not be afraid. But, then, in the world where we live—eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die—fear as warning is not fear of reassurance.
We sit in this place of worship—this sanctuary of God—and our feet, theologically, will just not quite reach the floor. We dangle in this space between belief and doubt, certainty and uncertainty.