According to officials in our state and region, we have been successful in our efforts these weeks at ‘flattening the curve’ of Covid-19 infections and the impact they can have on our hospitals and care providers. Well done! Let’s keep up the good work of being mindful of our neighbors.
Now, let’s turn our attention to flattening the curve…of our anxiety.
Of course, our anxiety has spiked these last couple of months. How could it not? So many parts of our lives feel threatened. The pandemic has wrecked our plans. So, too, has the pandemic threatened our workplaces, our job responsibilities, and our paychecks. We are anxious about those who may be particularly vulnerable to the virus, and we are frightened by once-mundane activities like going to the supermarket or getting take-out meals or doing business at the bank. At its best, our anxiety puts us in a posture of thoughtfulness as we interact with the world. At its worst, our anxiety is crippling as everything—and everyone-- feels like a threat.
Anxiety is like gasoline to a fire. It takes an already challenging moment and inflames it. When we are overwhelmed by anxiety, we react rather than respond. We lash out. We snap. We make bad decisions.
I know this firsthand. As I’ve publicly acknowledged multiple times, the worst decisions that I’ve ever made came at times when my anxiety was high and unchecked. So yes, anxiety negatively impacts our ability to navigate in the world. But lest we forget, anxiety is bad for our bodies, our immune systems (!), and our mental health.
System Theory, a term used by Ed Friedman, describes the importance of being a non-anxious presence. That is, we should strive to be the person who lowers the temperature in the room (Yes, it’s true. Sometimes effective leadership is reflected in the ability—think ‘art form’—to appropriately turn up the anxiety in the room so that people will be motivated to act). To be non-anxious means to be both present and unafraid.
Jesus is the quintessential non-anxious presence. In the Gospels, people bring him their high-pitched anxieties, and Jesus remains calm, cool, and collected. He speaks from a place of peace and truth, and people feel reassured and hopeful. Jesus’s poise amid chaos generates hope in his presence and God’s provision. Likewise, by not getting carried away with his anxiety, Jesus demonstrates wisdom by redirecting people’s misplaced-anxiety and encourages them to deal directly with their interpersonal stresses themselves. There is no doubt that Jesus’s voice is prophetic and that there is both judgment and warning in his tone. But Jesus’s response is grounded in Divine truth and is not a panicky reaction to a moment where he feels like something is about to be lost.
Anxiety, at its most basic level, is the fear of losing something. Jesus’s faithfulness to the Kingdom of God, however, teaches us that God redeems loss so that we don’t have to be terrified at the prospect of it. Take death, for example. Since believers know that this life is not the end, we can draw from a deep well of hope, peace, and consolation when we approach matters of inevitable sorrow and grief.
We can be anxious. We most certainly can be. Jesus, himself, hints at the anxiety that this world generates by quoting their voices in his Sermon on the Mount when he tells his hearers “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’
These well-founded questions point to the problem of loss, namely, loss of sustenance, wellness, provision.
Jesus declares in response: “You can choose to be anxious like many people do. But you don’thave to be anxious because God knows what we need and can turn a loss into gain. We should strive first for God’s Way, trusting Him through our faithfulness and obedience (Matthew 6:32-33, paraphrase).”
One of the greatest gifts that we can give our families and our community is one of a Christ-like, non-anxious presence. By flattening the curve of our anxiety, we can be attentive to the needs on either side of a concern. As my father used to frequently say: “Keep it in the middle of the road.” Don’t drive the car off the road and into either ditch. Be steady. Trusting. Hopeful. Moving forward.
Will we experience loss along the way? You bet. But as Christians, we don’t have to be afraid of it.