Anxiety/Fear

Breaking the Anxiety Boomerang
Anxiety is everywhere. I’ve bought three books that reference anxiety in the title in the past month. The pandemic prompted dramatic increases in anxiety in

Another School Shooting: Is There Light in the Darkness?
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,

The Promise of Jesus’ Resurrected Body
If you ever need a good ice breaker, you can say, “Tell me the story of one of your scars.” People will tell you about

This Would Be a Good Week to Get Sick
“This would be a good week to get sick.” I distinctly remember saying those words as I drove to church one Sunday morning. I was

What Energizes Me? Anxiety or Love?
Anxiety often wakes me up in the morning (not to mention in the middle of the night). My concern over the to-do list and my

A Few Things I Learned From Writing About Prenatal Testing
24 hours after my essay for the New York Times came out online, I learned it was also in the print edition! So that was

Anticipating Joy
“Anxiety is anticipated terror. Hope is anticipated joy.” I heard theologian Jürgen Moltmann say this to fellow theologian Miroslav Volf on a podcast a long

Receive Healing: Ask for Help
After we pay attention to pain, the second step to healing is to ask for help. There are two ways we can ask for help.

When Pain Remains
A few weeks ago, I had a mild panic attack. My neck and shoulder had been hurting all day. But all of a sudden, the

What Is Not Mine to Carry?
My shoulder started to hurt the day our kids went back to school after Thanksgiving break. I hadn’t done anything to injure it. Not even

Talking About Pain: Helpful or Harmful?
Last week, I read a series of seven articles in the NYT that considered chronic pain from a variety of different angles. As someone who

On 9/11, We Remember That Love Is Stronger Than Fear
[If you are looking for my Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast, please go here.] Evil is always (and only) a distortion of the good.

Anxiety Is Fuel for Achievement
“Anxiety has served me as a fuel for achievement, but it has failed me as a guide to getting well.” – To Be Made Well

Body Prayer: A Guide
Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared stories of various parts of my body. When my body aches, or when I get sick, I have

Emotional Disability
Is it possible that many adults in America have an emotional disability? That we have been taught to repress our feelings and rely on our

Body Prayer: Throat
I used to “lose my voice” often when I needed to speak in public. I canceled multiple events because I couldn’t creak out the words

Tired of Myself, but God Is Not Tired of Me
I make the same mistakes, commit the same sins, turn back to the same unhelpful habits over and over again. For me, these repetitive issues

Body Prayer: Nose
I started sneezing when we were driving home from an end-of-the-summer vacation. I sneezed maybe a dozen times? I said out loud, “Am I suddenly