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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
...and the bottom of the ocean
So today is "Black Friday." No, I've got nothing to say about the commercialization of the holiday season. If you enjoy Christmas shopping and all the buzz around "Black Friday Deals" (which seemed to start about a week ago!), have fun with it all. I personally will not be anywhere near a mall today!
But here we are again, into the Christmas or holiday season. You may love it. You may struggle with it. Maybe a bit of both. Maybe a lot of both. Let's face it, it's a time of year that's just kind of loaded with feelings and sentimentality and hopes and expectations and memories and nostalgia and additional tasks and parties and obligations and even extra church services. My goodness. This season has a way of amplifying just about everything. So if you're in a joyful place in your life, you will likely feel that even more during this time of year. And if you're having a hard time, well, I know this season has a way of making that all feel bigger as well, and my heart goes out to you.
For many it seems, all of the increased feelings and activities and expectations associated with this time of year have a way of increasing a pervasive sense of anxiety.
"Got your Christmas shopping done yet?" Ugh.
I won't go into all the reasons why a lot of people I know are more anxious or on edge than usual right now, and I'm not going to name a bunch of causes of anxiety in our world at this moment in history. Just watch the news. Hostages in the Middle East are being exchanged as I write this. We've all got plenty to work with in our own personal spheres and on a socio-political scale as well.
So what can we do when we're anxious? Well first, we need to do whatever practical and tangible things are ours to do. That sounds simple, but it's not always. But the point is to take the actions that are ours to take. And beyond that, in a more general sense, maybe just remind ourselves that dealing with anxiety is pretty much a universal aspect of being a human being. Just about everyone struggles with it to some degree. There's nothing "wrong" with you if you're feeling anxious now. It's not easy being human sometimes!
But second, we can remind ourselves that Jesus dealt straight on with anxiety and fear more than anything else, because he really wanted to help us with this. He said, "fear not" or "don't be worried" 365 times in the Gospels. And he showed us how to deal with it very practically. And I'm going to make it very simple. Because it is actually. It's just not easy.
So here's the simple truth Jesus taught that helps more than anything when it comes to feeling anxious.
Seek God first, and trust. (the "Key of Matthew 6:33").
I told you it was simple. But not easy.
Trusting God. Choosing (and it is a choice) to "know" that God will always give us whatever we need to face whatever we've got to face. Choosing to trust that God will see humankind through all of our most visceral and costly self-imposed crises. You've heard me say this lots if you've been around our church the last 5 years. That's because it is the deepest and most important thing I know. That there is a God. That God is always with us. That God is Love. That God is behind the scenes and in the midst of things and while not causing all things, always "working all things together for good." (Rom. 8:28). That God is GREATER than any trouble or challenge or heartache or injustice or sadness or loss we will ever face. That doesn't mean we won't feel things painfully. It doesn't mean we will not undergo horrific losses and heartbreaks. It doesn't mean that we will not have to show up and do the work that's ours to do. But it does mean that pain, brokenness, sorrow, and anxiety doesn't have the final word. It means trusting, as Ann Lamott puts it, that "Grace always bats last."
I could point to several places in the Bible that teach us about choosing to trust. I'll save those for sermons. And I know how trite it can feel to throw a Bible verse at a heartbreak. What I'm about to write may also seem rather powerless, but I'm going to just share one little thing I do that I find profoundly helpful when I'm anxious or overwhelmed. You ready?
I remember the calm at the bottom of the ocean.
That's it. When things feel hectic--when the waves on the surface are crashing--I remember that there is a deeper place directly underneath the waves that is perfectly calm and still. Right now. And I go there in my mind's eye or in my spiritual imagination. Sometimes that's what my meditation practice is. 20 minutes of sitting on the ocean floor, directly beneath the problems crashing around on the surface. Sometimes it's just as simple as pausing and thinking to myself, "It's calm underneath this." That that calm IS God. Always there in deep stillness no matter what's going on on the surface. Just knowing that and imagining that and taking a moment to "be in the calm with God" is often all it takes to change my experience of the surface things. At least to some degree. And sometimes, as with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples--the waves and the wind just stop raging altogether.
Give it a try. And come to church throughout Advent. I hope and pray that will be helpful as well.
Pastor Bryan
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