I have spent a lot of time since retiring from teaching trying to find peace in this chaotic world, but many times, anxiety and fear crowd into my otherwise knowledge-seeking mind. Anxiety is a free-floating sense of dread, a vague and distant nagging that something is going to happen. It results in feelings of gloom and doom and steals your sleep, your energy, and twists your body into a pretzel shape. On the other hand, fear is an awareness of a concrete threat, a specific, troubling event. It results in feelings of fight and flight and causes you to stop and evaluate the situation.
What really scares me are the statistics about how many Americans are experiencing my same anxieties and fears. My last blog detailed many of America’s problems. More and more of our children are depressed or have had thoughts of suicide. Perhaps, our COVID years damaged our minds more than our medical establishment is telling us. According to a doctor friend of mine, there are many studies being done on how isolation affected Americans. I just stopped having my students wear masks to their lessons for fear of a tiny bug or where and with whom my students have been. I cry more over what I see on the television than I ever have.
The Apostle Paul tells us to be anxious for nothing and not to let our minds become broken by life’s struggles. We should not be so tied to the past or the future that we cannot appreciate the present, but for many of us, that is not easy to do. We are all being affected by changes in our world: societal changes, the growth in terrorism, both international and national, climate changes, technology changes, moral value changes, 24-hour news cycles that are mostly negative, and our bodies reminding us that we are growing older. When we fight change, anxiety and fear manage to control our breathing and our heart rates, causing panic attacks, real or imagined. It should not surprise any American that as a nation, we are relying more on drugs and alcohol than perhaps any other nation in the world to face our problems. We have achieved as a nation but at what cost, and what kind of a world are we leaving our children when assault rifles are the answer to perceived wrong or personal decision?
Jesus Christ did not promise us a worry-free life, but He did promise to help us face the bad news of our lives. He will help us discern between the lies of the Devil and the lighted-truths of Christ. God looks at us with love, not with anger or disappointment. He welcomes us into His presence, and in His arms, we can find peace.
Philippians 4:4-8 (KJV) states: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Anna Hartt
