I read an article this recently entitled “How To Stay Calm
When You’re So Overwhelmed by Bad News You can Hardly Move.”
And this offers some practical secular suggestions that may
be helpful.
I’ve seen a few articles that offer suggestions for
faith-based actions to take, in particular “Practicing Your Faith in the Age of
Trump,”
which was helpful, more action focused. But I haven’t seen
much on spiritual practices as we live our faith in these challenging days.
Here are some suggestions:
- · Stay in the present moment, returning to it each time we feel our anxiety about the future rising up within us. This is a spiritual practice because we DON’T know what will happen in the future—only God does. Some of the ways I do this include wiggling my toes (I know it sounds silly, but it helps to ground me), taking a deep breath and letting it all the way out, and saying “I trust you, God.” Very little in our culture supports this, so it isn’t easy, but it makes a great deal of difference to me as I practice this.
- · Spend time in silent prayer daily, more than once a day if you are drawn by God to this. This is another way of saying “I trust you, God.” “I trust you enough to put aside my questions, petitions, my frantic seeking for answers, my fears and even my hopes.” Centering prayer, 20 minutes of focusing on God (using a word to recall my attention to God), is one very helpful way to practice this kind of prayer. Spending quiet time in nature is another. Remember that it is our intention to be silent in the presence of God, but that it is only God who can still our minds to silence. So when my mind chatters or my to-do-list interrupts my prayer time, I speak (silently) and as often as necessary my focus word, without judging or impatience. Right now, it is “Abba,” the word Jesus used to address God his Father.
- · Ask often, “where is God in this time?” When I spend time on Facebook or the news, I look for people, events, prayers, comments and other ways I see God at work in these days. Calls to and acts of resistance, reaching out to decision-makers with my comments, witnessing the courage of others, prayers written by others, there are so many ways that I see God active in this time.
- · Stay connected with others seeking to live their faith in hope and trust. None of us can do this alone, even with God’s help. Faith groups, friends, social media can all be ways of finding others who are committed to living faithfully our faith in God. I am an introvert and also physically not able at this time to march, but in my time on Facebook, I respond with encouragement, positive comments, sharing posts that I think others might find helpful.
- · Pray for our leaders, national and international, clergy, local and state government, civic associations, grassroots organizations. We can pray however God guides us, but some suggestions: for God to guide their decisions; for God to fill their hearts with love; for God to hold them accountable. I have not always done this, but I am coming to take 1 Timothy 2: 1-3 more and more seriously. (“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”) I also find myself praying more and more often that God will overpower with his love those who appear to be living from hatred and greed, recognizing that this requires me to try to love them, with God’s help. I’m not there yet, God has a lot of work to do in me!
- · Resist temptations to stay in despair, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, outrage. These are all normal human feelings, but when we “feed” them by our attention, they grow and are serious distractions from trusting God and walking in faith. We need to do this ourselves, and we also do this for others around us who may not know God’s love and God’s power to overcome evil.
- · Keep our eyes on Jesus, not only to learn about God’s enormous commitment to love each of us, but to learn both practical actions to take in God’s service, and to follow Jesus example of focusing his righteous anger, in cleansing the temple of greedy vendors (Matthew 21:12-13), in confronting hypocrisy (Matthew 7:1, 5) and hard-heartedness (Mark 3:5), superiority (Luke 11:42-52), in correcting his disciples (Matthew 10:13-16, Matthew 16:23), and, most important, in following his call all the way through the consequences on the cross. I do not mean that we will be crucified, but there will be consequences, almost certainly, as we protest and resist.
- · Take care of body and spirit. This is one I struggle with the most, and am having to seek God’s help with more than the others, which, to some degree, have become part of how I live my faith through this long journey of seeking God daily. My body (including my mind and emotions) is a gift from God and I am learning slowly to treat my physical, mental and emotional being with greater respect and appreciation. In addition to all the “normal” stressors of daily life, we are now living in a time of great stress because of uncertainty about what will happen, so many possibilities of awful things, negativity coming at us from many directions, things we hold dear or necessary under threat…. I will not be able to stay focused, active, determined if I allow these additional stressors to affect my health and energy. Taking breaks, resting, staying hydrated and fed, moving in ways that feel good and help my muscles,cultivating gentleness and joy, these are all things I CAN do, when there is so much about which I CAN’T do anything.
I know this sounds like an awful lot, and I confess that I
don’t manage to do all of these every day. I am dependent on God for what I do
and how I live. But the whole purpose of these is to seek God’s help and grace
and an ever-deepening relationship with the One who is calling me to become
more and more like God’s image. May you grow in love and in joy in being all
that you are called to become.
