Anxiety, Coronavirus and the Christian
- Eric Fesmire
- Apr 13, 2020
- 8 min read
This post offers a therapeutic approach to anxiety marked by gentleness, gratitude, and grace. With special reference given to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the author also offers body-, emotion-, and thought-based exercises, which can be utilized to practically respond to anxious feelings.
We all experience anxiety in lots of different ways: in our thoughts, in our emotions, in our bodies. This is because anxiety is a response to a perceived threat. We have beliefs or suspicions that something might happen that will harm us. Regardless of how we experience it, anxiety is all about self-preservation. From this perspective, we should be grateful for the protective intention of anxiety. As weird as it may sound, anxiety is trying to help us, like a child using his action figures to defend a house. The problem is that if anxiety is not processed in a healthy, prayerful, and ultimately God-oriented way, it can take control and wreak havoc.
This leads me to a different approach to anxiety: gentle, grateful, and gracious. Our response should be gentle because anxiety says we need to act now, that we are in immediate danger. A gentle response helps to calm this need for immediate action. We should be grateful because anxious thoughts really are trying to help protect us. Thanking God that we have responses designed for our protection is not denying God’s rule. Instead, it celebrates God’s good creation of his people and our ability to adapt in an often-dangerous world. It should be gracious in that we should not shame ourselves for feelings of fear or anxiety. Instead we bring those feelings to God in honest reflection. Our model for this is Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. In this moment, Jesus shows us a deeply human reaction to future pain and suffering; anxiety, fear, and terror are all words that describe him in that moment. He even asks God to take the suffering cup away. But by offering these reactions to God, instead of suppressing them or attacking them as “ungodly” Jesus is able to turn the corner and say, “Not my will but Yours be done.” In a time of the coronavirus, it would be glorious for all Christians everywhere to acknowledge their own anxious reactions and say with Jesus “take this cup from me, yet not my will but Yours be done.”
Recognizing our anxiety is an important part of taking care of ourselves, even as we wash our hands, create social distance, and do what we can to flatten the curve. Below are some suggestions on how to engage an anxious heart, mind, and body. As your thoughts begin to spin out of control or your heart begins to race over these next few weeks, my hope is that these humble exercises can bring you back to a place of remembrance: the heavenly throne is occupied by the Prince of Peace.
1. Anxiety in Our Body ("present your bodies as living sacrifices")
God created us embodied persons. Our bodies are important, not only to our engagement with the world, but our engagement with God. The following exercises that engage the body fall under the category of “presenting our bodies as living sacrifices.” We may engage in these exercises prayerfully when our bodies send us anxious messages that no longer reflect the reality of God’s good and beautiful reign. These exercises act as gentle, loving reminders that we no longer need to carry our anxieties bodily, that these symptoms can be offered to the same God who we cast all our anxieties on because He cares for us. These exercises are about re- establishing safety under God in a troubled time.
Hand on Heart/Hand on Stomach
This activity might feel strange at first, but it can be helpful for many. Place either your right or left hand on your heart, and the opposite hand on your stomach. Apply gentle pressure. Continue to breathe slowly. Now switch your hands. Notice how you feel in both postures. Some report the right hand on the heart and left on the stomach provides a sense of comfort, others the opposite. These don’t seem to be related to be right or left-handed. Trauma experts theorize that this activates parts of the brain that provide greater sense of control and comfort over the nervous system. God has created us with the ability to self-soothe, to engage our bodies in ways that alter our moods and outlooks. These abilities are often overlooked gifts from God.
Be Still
The psalmist encourages us to be still and know that He is God, that He might be exalted in the nations. Being still is more than just ceasing activity, it is an act of dependence on God. It says we no longer need to engage in activity because God is our provider. Over time, being still has a cumulative positive impact on our bodies, hearts, and minds. Find a quiet place in your home. To do this well, you may need headphones. Sit and be still, breathing slowly. Some recommend 6 long breaths every minute, with longer exhales than inhales. Breathing in this way sends a message to you body that it is okay to relax, that you are safe. Become aware of the messages your body might be sending you during this time, including your posture, muscle tension, discomfort etc. Be gracious and gentle towards these messages, do not judge them, especially if they are anxious ones. Acknowledge God’s presence. Recognize your body as God’s creation. Be grateful for it, even the parts you may want to change. It might help to end this time with Psalm 139:14 “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...”
2. Anxiety in Our Emotions ("Why are you downcast, oh soul...")
Emotions are often the unsung heroes or villains in our lives. We love to feel good, comfortable, loved, or excited. But anxiety, fear, sadness, discomfort, we often do everything we can to avoid. It is natural and even encouraged then for us to find things to occupy us during this anxious time, instead of sitting and letting anxiety take over. But as you work to fill your days, it is important from time to time to check in with those anxious thoughts, to tune into what is going on inside. Emotions left unengaged can tend to have a volcano effect: suddenly you yell at a loved one or experience a full-blown panic attack. The following exercises help us to engage our emotions, the way we are feeling about things, even when we can’t identify particular thoughts surrounding these emotions.
Emotional Inventory
To combat the volcano effect, every day or so, check in with your emotions. It is important to do this from a posture of gentleness, gratitude, and grace as previously discussed. Your goal during this check in is not to judge or fix these emotions, but just to take inventory. If you can’t name it, “I felt angry” then describe it “I felt ugly and gross.” You want to accept your emotions as your interpretations of reality, even if they aren’t accurate. Be gentle with yourself. It was said about Jesus, “a bruised reed He would not break” and that is the spirit with which we want to engage our anxious emotions. The goal at the end is to have a good understanding of what emotions we may have been covering up throughout our day.
Self-Dialogue
With the inventory completed, we can then have self-dialogue with our anxious emotions. This is modeled for us by the Psalmist “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (43:5). Speak to your anxious emotions from that posture of gentleness, gratitude, and grace. While you have these emotions, they do not define you. While a part of you might carry anxiety, there is more to you than that. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus, gifted with the Holy Spirit. Engage your anxiety from this foundation, again wrapped in gentleness, gratitude and grace. An example using the Psalmist’s language might look like “Thank you for trying to protect me, my anxious soul, but I have done what I can to prepare for this time. Ultimately, I trust in God. He has been faithful to me before, he will care for me now.” In the same way that we might introduce a fearful child to Jesus, introduce your anxious emotions to what you know to be true about God.
3. Anxiety in Our Thoughts ("Whatever is good and noble... meditate on these things")
Sometimes we feel anxious without those feelings being connected with individual thoughts. Other times, our thoughts are clearly carrying the anxiety. Circular, racing, and catastrophic thoughts can ramp up our anxious reactions. Here are some ways to engage the thoughts in our mind from a perspective of gentleness, gratitude, and grace in the hope that it helps us to seek God in the renewal of our minds.
Engage Catastrophic Thinking
Catastrophic thinking is when we find ourselves thinking about the worst possible outcomes of our situation. We often engage in catastrophic thinking as an unconscious effort to protect and prepare ourselves. When we begin to feel ourselves thinking these end-of-the-world thoughts, be grateful again for that protective intention. But also, do what you can to doubt the catastrophe. It is often easier for us to doubt the good things in our lives than our worst fears. Just because a thought carries weight emotionally does not mean it is true. Give yourself permission to doubt your greatest fears. While you doubt your fears, remind yourself who God is. Renew your mind regularly with the story of Scripture. Contradict internal messages of fear with external messages of hope.
River of Thoughts
Part of renewing of our minds is recognizing that thoughts only receive the power that we give them. Not every anxious thought should be engaged. All of us have stray, anxious or negative thoughts sometimes. None of us have yet obtained the perfect peace that Christ promises at his return. One metaphor that helps here is to imagine your thoughts like a river. Instead of stopping the river to grab onto every thought, we should often let some thoughts just drift past. This creates distance between yourself and the thought. A healthy thought life will include both of these strategies mixed together: sometimes we engage thoughts that are not true and refute them and sometimes we simply let the thoughts pass by on our stream of consciousness. Then we are freed up to meditate on all that is good, and true, and noble (Phil 4:8).
Final Thought: Community
Flannery O’Connor tells us to “push back against the age as hard as it pushes against you.” Above, we talked about how each of us individually can process anxiety. But when the anxiety is collective, as it is now, it is important to remember your community. Reach out to friends, family, and coworkers. Be vulnerable and share experiences. Let others be there for you and be there to say “me too” back. Pushing back against an age of anxiety means being there for our neighbors and our local communities. It means finding creative ways to not let ourselves or those around us become isolated with our anxiety. We use exercises like these to look inside, only so that we can reengage the outside world again in a healthier way. If we are gentle, grateful, and gracious with ourselves, how much more gentle, grateful and gracious should we be with others?
© Eric Fesmire 2020. Use with Permission
Contact: fesmirecounseling@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of other Therapy and Theology contributors.
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