This too shall pass...

There are so many occasions in our life where we have the opportunity to worry and become anxious. Indeed, anxiety seems to be so common to the descendants of Adam and Eve that an alien coming to Earth would most likely assume that it is part of our nature. Whether it be work, school, finances or just simply the future, we seem to be constantly fretting and worrying about something. For many, their entire lives are spent going from one worry to the next, never experiencing the rest Christ promised to all those "who labor and are weary." (Mt. 11: 28). We become in a hurry to get things done. We compare ourselves to others, wondering why we aren't as perfect as them. And all this time, we are missing out on a Love and a meaning that would satisfy our anxieties. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." - St. Augustine

As with most any part of human nature, men have found a way today to market anxiety. It is the goal of almost all the major news networks to breed anxiety in the souls of their viewers. Fox News, MSNBC, CNN - all these networks aim at making the soul disquieted so that people will feel like they have to watch more. They fill screens with images and stories of evil, suffering, and tragedies. They want to make people so worried about the world around them that they'll keep coming back to catch the "latest." They'll inflate the smallest stories into world ending catastrophes with blazing graphics so that they can sell more advertisement space. Of course, the advertisers don't mind if your anxious, because like every salesman of old they have the remedy to all your problems. The more problems you have, the more "remedies" you'll buy.

But truth be told, many of us like feeling anxious, otherwise we wouldn't so willingly engage in the anxiety of the world. We like the feeling of being at a critical point in our lives or in history, when in truth we may be at an extremely normal point in our lives or in history. Anxiety both begets and is begotten by the notion that we are the center of the universe, and ever since Adam and Eve tried to be like God without God, we've tried our hardest to actually make ourselves the center of the universe. In the process, we've made ourselves miserable with anxiety, but being all important is too important for us to give up. Anxiety gives us a sense of martyrdom, the sense that we are unjustly suffering in a cruel world.

However, the funny thing about true martyrs, those individuals who believe so strongly in Christ that they're willing to die for Him, is that they were often the least anxious people around. Indeed, many of the stories of early Christian martyrs tell how when they were being fed to the lions, they would sing. They weren't singing the blues, though, they were singing for joy, joy at being so near to entering into the Beatific Vision of God. They knew something very important, they knew that "this too shall pass".

What made the martyrs at peace with death was that they clearly saw things as they are. They knew that the minor trials and tribulations of life, such as man eating lions, were rather unimportant nuisances compared to the great undertakings of the Christian life - Faith, Hope, and Charity. For them, living a life filled with these three theological virtues was all important; nothing else mattered. They knew that by living out Faith, Hope, and Charity, they would come into closer union with their heart's desire, God. Only sin could stand in the way of achieving this goal, nothing else mattered. Thus, the only thing the martyrs ever seemed to be anxious about was their own weakness, asking others to pray that they might persevere. The lions didn't scare them, but their own pride and feebleness did. They truly understood the words of St. Paul "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord." (Rom. 8: 38-39).

The answer to all our anxieties has already been given us, we just need to listen like the martyrs did. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Mt 11: 28-30). Amen.