ON BEING ANXIOUS

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" -- Matthew 6:25
     In Classical Greek the word which has been translated as, "anxious," literally means, "to be distracted in your mind." I think that is an appropriate description of how we feel in this time of pandemic when we are cloistered in our homes awaiting the pestilence to subside, we are "distracted in our minds" in our anxiety over how soon we will return to our "normal" lives; to our jobs and the daily routines we have become accustomed to. 
     We see this in the anxious protesters who have taken to the street shouting for a change to restrictive "stay at home" policies. We see it in the lives of people who flock to reopened Florida beaches, mingling in the surf and sand as if the disease has already passed. When I see these things I am reminded of the scene in the movie, "Independence Day" where people are gathered on a rooftop to welcome the aliens and are totally ignorant of the doom about to befall them.

    These are trying times, but not unlike other times in World History where lives were torn apart, societies suffered upheaval, and civilizations destroyed. We find ourselves, today, in a moment in time that, in the words of Thomas Paine, speaking on the eve of the American Revolution, "...are the times that try men's souls." And, yet, in the end, a better world rose from the ashes.
     Yes, we are bored; yes, we are worried (especially when the rent or mortgage payment is coming due), and, yes, we are anxious because our minds are distracted. But, what is this distraction? It is the distraction that this whole thing: the pandemic; the stay-at-home orders; our inability to go to work or pay our bills are first and foremost all about ME!      It was just this sort of distorted thinking that Our Lord, Jesus, was addressing. "Do not be anxious," he says. But, who can blame us? We are anxious -- distracted -- about tomorrow, let alone today. Yet, Jesus' words comes a warning that our anxiousness -- our distractions in the mind; that this is all about me -- is something we must guard against for "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The message is clear, how can anyone profess to be disciple of Christ when one's mind is so distracted by things of which one cannot control? Jesus was warning his disciples about as he sent them out into the world in a state of total poverty with nothing but the love of God in their hearts, the clothes on the backs and the sandals on their feet. They couldn't help but be worried, especially when it came time to eat?

     In our comfortable hedonistic world it is hard to imagine being hungry and not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Think, now, of the poor and the homeless. Think of how many children get up and go to school each morning hungry and whose only real meal they will get this day is the one the school provides.

     In our comfortable hedonist world it is hard to remain happy when our lifestyle is changing; when our savings are being depleted because we are shut-in and we have little or no money coming in. Think, now, of our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents who went through the Great Depression and lost everything, and then lost husbands, sons, fathers, uncles, brothers and friends in the horror that was the Second World War.

     In our comfortable hedonistic world it is hard to find contentment when isolation and confinement leads to feelings of loneliness, depression, and alienation from the world. Such conditions can produce long-term mental disorders not unlike post traumatic stress suffered by soldiers in combat. Think, now, of the prisoner who, through their own misdeeds, are taken from their families isolated and imprisoned. Should we be concerned for them? Both the Old and New Testaments say, yes!

     In our comfortable hedonistic world it is hard to love when our quarantine magnifies pettiness; magnifies disagreements and divisions; magnifies the tendency to say hurtful things; magnifies an inability to show a little kindness. Think, now, on how many times we've read, heard or know of situations of far less a degree than what we are experiencing today that led to family disputes, breakups, divorce -- or worse.

    It is precisely these sorts of "distractions in the mind" that Jesus was warning against by saying, "do not be anxious of such things." Now, you might want to say in frustration how easy that is for him to say, but really? Are we humans so smug to think that we are any different from the lilies of the field, or the birds of the air, or the fish of the sea? Look, Jesus says, how God takes care of them! Have you ever seen a grumpy Robin?

     I, too, yearn for the time we can once more be together as friends, families and coworkers, and yet, this is our time to endure an almost unendurable hardship, and yet, my family and I read, play games, continue to socialize. We wave to our neighbors, speak from a comfortable distance, spend time on the phone talking with friends, writing to each other on Facebook.
     Let's face it, this is our period in human history that will be written about forever, and we are part of it. This is our time where we are witnesses to something that is beyond our control; has taken control, and we must weather it through even in the face of lost lives; even lost loved ones. But, worry? As our Lord points out, how can you worry about that which you cannot see nor control. It is a pointless distraction in the mind and we may take some comfort in the French who have a saying for just such a time, "C'est la vie." Such is life. And, Charles Dickens, who wrote of the French Revolution by saying, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...it was the summer of hope; it was the winter of despair," (A Tale of Two Cities). Who cannot relate?

   Yes, this is a frightening and worrisome time, but as Christians we are called on to keep our faith in the face of "distractions." We are called on to keep our faith just as those early Christians kept their faith after having been led into the arena to face the wild beasts, and to be vessels of God's Grace through a life committed to love in Christ.
     A good example of this distraction is the so-called, "War on Christianity," because the stay-at-home orders prevent church gatherings. What is it you don't understand that this is a national health emergency and to sacrifice a few Sundays without attending church seems a reasonable measure. Many older Christians, what we call the sick and the shut-in, find solace in watching Sunday service on TV. Are we so shallow to think that worship is all about a Sabbath gathering? Let us not be deceived by having our minds distracted by things we cannot control.
     Events are out of our hands and our faith is in Him who promised to never leave us. That means that now, more than ever, we are being called in the face of our hardships to mirror God's Love and Grace in each moment of each day by being the vessel that offers love and hope to our families, our friends and to our neighbors. Never lose sight of that hope and our salvation in a God who has promised to take care of us just as he takes care of every other living creature of his Creation, and that he is with us, always.