Orthodox Living
Battling Anxiety
Anxiety is the scourge of age. Many people worry and fret continually over little things and big things; over things they can control and over things they can’ t control. They worry about the future which they are inclined to see as a threat rather than as a promise. They worry about the past, fearful of its apparent grip upon their lives. They worry about the present and so fail to embrace life. There is no doubt that anxiety is toxic, extremely harmful to body, mind and soul. Anxiety always has the whiff of sulphur about it; it’ s the devil’ s very own brew. Yet a person who is inclined to be anxious should not be fearful on account of his anxiety. That only makes the condition worse. An anxious person needs a particular kind of repentance in order to get better, and since getting better is a progressive and slow process, so also must repentance be continual and measured. As we know( or should do!) metanoia, the Greek word for repentance, means simply,“ a change of mind.” In other words, the cure for anxiety is simply a different way of thinking, a different way of feeling, a different way of acting. Of course this radical transformation inside our hearts has its source in God not in ourselves. It is our business to work hard at seeking out this transformation, but it is God’ s goodwill and purpose to carry it out.
When Jesus deals with anxiety He uses as an example one of its most common forms: survival anxiety. How will we get by? How can I make sure that there is food on the table? How can I make sure that my kids have reasonable clothes to go to school? How can I reliably and securely provide for myself and my family? These are vitally important questions and God cares as much as we do, indeed the more so, about how they are answered. In short, they are answered not by anxiety but by trust. Of course it is anxiety, an unreasonable fear of the unknown, or even life itself, which blocks the very trust in God that can so easily dispel it if, and only if, a soul looks heavenward for divine help. The vicious circle of fear in depression is only lifted by an act of will and faith, sometimes in the very teeth of darkness and despair. This act of will and faith, this decision to begin to trust God for our daily needs, is what cures the anxious soul. This change in our minds and in our hearts is commended by the Lord’ s prayer itself when we pray:“ give us this day our daily bread.”
Now we should be clear that trusting God is not an excuse or a reason for idleness or inaction in the face of needs or, indeed, adversity. Someone once said that we should pray as if everything depends upon God( which it does) and work as if everything depends upon us( which, to a point, it does). Undergirding both frames of mind is the conviction that we are indeed safe in God’ s hands, if we would but put ourselves in those hands and trust Him to provide for our needs even if, at the same time, we work hard to acquire them. This is the synergy, the working together, that we Orthodox emphasise in a holy life. It is something that must be worked at, vigorously; if necessary- sometimes with blood, sweat and tears! It is a holy consecration of life based on active hope in God, the Giver of all good gifts. He cares for us; He will not let us down. The lilies are clothed, the sparrows are cherished, the very hairs on our head are numbered.
To be successful in this struggle for a trusting, hopeful, joyful and anxiety-free life we must be alert to the power of our ancient enemy. The devil will use every trick in the book to get us into a slothful or distracted state so that we cease to fix our gaze on God and put our whole trust in Him. Commonly he uses the concerns and cares of the world around us to achieve this. Jesus referred to this as a Gentile preoccupation. At the time of course, Our Lord was speaking to fellow Jews. There would come a time when the Gentiles would be grafted into the blessing of the people of God, so let us understand“ Gentile” as a euphemism for being worldly. It is worldliness which stokes our anxieties and, therefore, keeps us from God. Those without faith, the worldly ones, have a fragile hold on a very tenuous hope that, somehow,‘ things will work out okay.’ Maybe they will, maybe they won’ t! It is only faith that can deal with the spoiling of our hopes and dreams, with the disturbance of our peace, with the anxiety as to how we shall survive. It is only faith that can energise us and fill us with that life which is in Christ. If we seek personal security in worldly goods or ideas, then let there be no mistake, we shall perish. The only true security we have is in God and his Kingdom; the rock rather than the sand upon which we build. As Christ concluded at the end of the Gospel we heard this morning; His friends and followers must first seek the Father’ s Kingdom and His righteousness so that anxiety might recede and trust and life prevail, with all our true needs being provided for.
Jesus also added one little epilogue sentence to his teaching, a pithy piece of wisdom and a very practical rule of life for everyone for all time.“ Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’ s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”( Matthew 6:34) We could summarise this teaching yet further, perhaps, by encouraging ourselves and others to live in the present moment. It is the present moment only which is the interface with life as lived and God as known. Living in the past with either nostalgia or regret, or both. is to have one foot in the grave. To fantasise or dread the future is to put the other foot in the grave as well! The past is redeemed by our Lord and the future is in His hands; it is in the present moment that our full energies and attention must be gathered and focused. If we follow Christ’ s simple teaching that we keep our lives, so to speak,“ in the day”, then we shall be happy, or rather joyful. Here in the present moment, trusting in the God-who-provides, we shall be clothed as the lilies in the field and provided for even as the birds of the air. Anxiety vanquished!
Fr. Gregory Hallam is Dean at the Antiochian Orthodox Deanery of the United Kingdom and Ireland and priest at St. Aidan’ s Orthodox Church in Manchester. He is also the author of the Ancient Faith Radio podcast series‘ A Voice From The Isles’.
The Apostle’ s Path 11