My Blog

Tag: anxiety

  • A Virtual Hug for Families With Children and Youth

    This message is addressed to families with children and youth and those who care about them.

    We have reached a point of frustration with this pandemic that is about to be compounded by the myriad of issues surrounding the opening of school. Our kids are anxious about what that is going to look like. Parents are concerned not only for their safety if they return in person, but also for the challenges raised if they participate in a virtual classroom. Either way, many parents will have to make a choice between family and employment, sooner or later.

    Then, there are the people who make school happen – the teachers, counselors, administrators, cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, and others without whom schools in normal conditions would simply stop working. They, too, risk exposure to the Coronavirus if the students return to the campus. What happens to a classroom of students when the teacher tests positive or a busload of students when a driver tests positive? Do they all go into quarantine at home? Who looks after them? A dozen other questions come to mind, but I’ll stop there.

    Several weeks ago, St. Martin’s made the painful decision not to reopen our school. The change in student/teacher ratio, the added sanitation protocols, announcements of free public school early childhood programs in the area, no liability coverage for COVID-19-related incidents, a bleak financial outlook, along with the aforementioned questions, presented a perfect storm of obstacles. We could not see a way to open the school and safeguard the health and well-being of our kids and our teachers.

    All that said, I do understand the difficult decisions public and other independent schools are facing. The decisions their leaders must make and the decisions parents and families must make are daunting. Like you, I wish I knew the right answer. But I don’t.

    What I do know is this:

    • The people of St. Martin's will not shame parents for whatever difficult decisions they make.
    • The people of St. Martin's will stand by our parents, pray with you, and do whatever we can to help you uphold what you think is best for your children and youth.
    • The people of St. Martin's will remain steadfast in offering an abundance of faith, hope, and love to parents and families.
    • When this is over – and it will eventually end – the people of St. Martin's will be here for you and rejoice to see your faces reflecting the light of God’s countenance, the God who always sees us through both the bad times and the good times. Maybe that is actually the light at the end of this tunnel!

    I remind you of St. Paul’s words, which we read last Sunday, in the hope that you will let them resonate in your heart and mind during this time when all these things conspire against us and seem so overwhelming:

    We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose…What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?…Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, 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.  (Romans 8:28, 31, 35, 37-39)

    May this message be a great big virtual hug for our families with children and youth. We love you!

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
    Interim Rector
    St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
    Keller, Texas

  • Al Tira

    If I asked the average Christian what is the greatest of God’s commandments, I suspect most would respond, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” And, if I asked what is the second greatest commandment, I’m pretty sure most would respond, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. Like a door depends on its hinges.

    If I asked what is the most frequent commandment in the canon of Scripture, I might not find such a strong consensus. But there is one commandment that is found in most books of the Bible. Often, it is spoken by God. Many times, it is spoken by an angel. Sometimes it is spoken by Jesus.

    Here is the answer: The most frequent commandment in the Bible is

    Al Tirah

    Do you recognize that? Probably not. It’s Hebrew and is pronounced Al tirah. Still don’t recognize it? Okay, I’ll bet you recognize the English translation FEAR NOT. This commandment appears 365 times in the canon of Scripture, once for every day of the year. In my review of the occasions in which the commandment is expressed, it seems that it is usually spoken in a situation in which anxiety is running very high. Now is one of those times.

    Only this week, articles have been published describing the intentional use of anxiety to motivate people in the political process. The use of anxiety to motivate is not a new idea. It is customary in all unhealthy emotional systems, including religious communities. “Healing” those systems involves a decision on the part of each member to manage his/her own anxiety and to resist the efforts of those who use anxiety to motivate or influence others.

    People are anxious about terrorists, gun rights, politicians, access to healthcare, the world economy, fluctuations in the market, job security, the Sunday morning schedule, and a host of other things that can be perceived as threatening to our lives or at least our way of life. Many are feeling that the situation around them has moved beyond their control. They feel powerless and maybe hopeless. When human beings reach such a state of anxiety, our primitive “fight or flight” program instinctively engages. When that happens, we lose some of our ability to reason. We might say or do all sorts of irrational and hurtful things as we express our anxiety and even take extreme, sometimes violent measures to regain control to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our values, and our possessions.

    Our brains are designed to react in frightening situations. We have that in common with other living creatures, such as lizards. Without our survival instinct, our ancestors would not have made it. But human brains are also designed to help us reason and work with other humans in finding meaningful ways to respond to what threatens us.

    When we don't use those God-given, uniquely human gifts, things go bad. Eucharistic Prayer C recalls that cause and effect relationship:

    From the primal elements you brought forth the human race,
    and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us
    the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed
    your trust; and we turned against one another.

    That’s where the most frequent Biblical commandment comes in. God who designed and equipped us to care for each other and oversee the entire creation, tells us not to let our fears conquer our faith, our hope, our love, and our reason! "Al tirah! Don’t be afraid!"

    In spite of that, many people are anxious right now. Not everyone is having a good time. Not everyone feels secure. Small things are magnified so that they evoke reactions that are out of proportion to the facts. Even good news is frightening to some people.

    So, let’s resolve to be a light in someone’s darkness. Let's take responsibility for and manage our own anxieties. Let’s take the time to listen to one another and honestly try to understand what is really being said. Let's seek and tell the truth, give the benefit of the doubt, exercise that part of our brain that facilitates reason, self-control, and compassion. Let's build trust. Let’s resolve to make our words and our actions to be expressions of the most frequent commandment. Let’s start with ourselves; look into the mirror and say, “Fear not!” Then, let’s find a way to help those around us conquer their own fears

    The promise is that faith conquers fear. Our hope is that perfect love casts out fear.

    Al Tirah

     

     

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • Al Tirah

    If I asked the average Christian what is the greatest of God’s commandments, I suspect most would respond, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” And, if I asked what is the second greatest commandment, I’m pretty sure most would respond, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. Like a door depends on its hinges.

    If I asked what is the most frequent commandment in the canon of Scripture, I might not find as much a strong consensus. There is one commandment that is found in most books of the Bible. Often, it is spoken by God. Many times, it is spoken by an angel. Sometimes it is spoken by Jesus.

    Here is the answer: The most frequent commandment in the Bible is

    Al Tirah

    Do you recognize that? Probably not. It’s Hebrew and is pronounced Al tirah. Still don’t recognize it? Okay, I’ll bet you recognize the English translation FEAR NOT. This commandment appears 365 times in the canon of Scripture, once for every day of the year. In my review of the occasions in which the commandment is expressed, it seems that it is usually spoken in a situation in which anxiety is running very high. Now is one of those times.

    People are anxious about terrorists, gun rights, politicians, access to healthcare, the world economy, travel, job security, and a host of other things that can be perceived as threatening to our lives or at least our way of life. Many are feeling that the situation around them has moved beyond their control. They feel powerless and maybe hopeless. When human beings reach such a state of anxiety, our primitive “fight or flight” program instinctively engages. When that happens, we lose some of our ability to reason. We might say or do all sorts of irrational and hurtful things as we express our anxiety and even take extreme, sometimes violent measures to regain control to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our values, and our possessions.

    Our brains are designed to react in frightening situations. We have that in common with other living creatures, such as lizards. Without our survival instinct, our ancestors would not have made it. But human brains are also designed to help us reason and work with other humans in finding meaningful ways to respond to what threatens us.

    That’s where the most frequent Biblical commandment comes in. God who designed and equipped us to care for each other and oversee the entire creation, tells us not to let our fears conquer our faith, our hope, our love, and our reason.! Al tirah! Don’t be afraid!

    I guess my mother had something like that in mind when she would stop me in mid-sentence and say, “Take a deep breath and count to ten before you say another word.”

    Advent, the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year, is supposed to be a time of expectation, hope, peace, and joy. An angel said to some shepherds on a Judean hillside long ago,"Al tirah!, Fear not! for I have good news of a great joy that shall be to all the people.”

    In spite of that, many people are anxious right now. Not everyone is having a good time. Not everyone feels secure. Even good news is frightening to some people. I have friends who don’t have the best memories of the holidays. There are those who are not going to be surrounded by family and loved ones. One thing is sure, everybody needs to know that they are safe, that they are loved, and that someone cares about them.

    So, let’s resolve to be a light in someone’s darkness. Let’s take the time to listen to one another and honestly try to understand what is really being said. Let’s resolve to make our words and our actions to be expressions of the most frequent commandment. Let’s start with ourselves; look into the mirror and say, “Fear not!” Then, let’s find a way to help those around us conquer their own fears.

    The promise is that faith conquers fear. Our hope is that perfect love casts out fear.

    Al Tirah

     

     

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

     

  • The Phenomenon of Faith

    Christian faith means hearing and responding with trust in God when God reaches out to us, offering a promise, wooing us, and calling us into a living redemptive relationship. There is an historic pattern to the phenomenon of faith: God calls, promising to use our lives for God's high purposes. The recipient of the call expresses fear, doubt, or anxiety. Then comes divine reassurance. Finally, there is a faithful response. We see it in the life of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Jeremiah, Mary and Joseph, the Apostles, and others through the ages.

    We also see it in the life of Jesus. In his Baptism and Transfiguration there is the call. In the wilderness there is the question and divine reassurance. In the cross there is the faithful response. He does not allow the warning of friends nor the threat of foes deter him from what God has called him to do and the promise before him.

    In his book, Living Faith While Holding Doubt, Martin Copenhaver writes, “There are times when we must make a 100% commitment to something about which we are only 51% certain.”

    But faith is not a momentary phenomenon, an act at one point in time. Faith is a long-term trust, a committed, continuous response to God’s promises. Out of real doubts and deep questions, Abram ventures forth with God. The venturing forth does not erase those doubts and questions. Rather, he gathers up his doubts and stumbles on trusting God into a future on the basis of nothing but the promise.

    God told Abraham that he and his descendants would be a blessing to all the people of the earth and that the promise would last forever. The old Rabbis said that when God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the dust, he was referring not only to numbers but to the fact that they would outlast those who trampled upon them. Given the way some in the three great Abrahamic faiths have fought one another for centuries, it is a wonder we have survived thus far.

    St. Paul tells us that all who trust God like Abraham are his descendants, not just those who have his genes (Romans 4:13-25). Jesus shows us that the way of the cross is the way of faith. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

    When God calls, how do you answer? With doubts, anxieties, fears? You are not alone! But can you listen beyond those obstacles to God's reassuring voice, calling you to trust him to lead you through them, perhaps even to use those obstacles as bridges into the future where he is trying to get you to go with him? Can you say, I'm 51% sure, Lord, but I'll trust you with the other 49%?

    There is a beautiful prayer by Thomas a’ Kempis that expresses the heart’s desire to live with faith in God:

    Write thy blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so indelibly engraven, that no prosperity, no adversity shall ever move me from thy love. Be thou to me a strong tower of defense, a comforter in tribulation, a deliverer in distress, a very present help in trouble, and a guide to heaven through the many temptations and dangers of this life. Amen.

    In our Lenten journey together with our Savior, let this prayer be on our lips and learn from him what it truly means to trust in God.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Managing Our Fear in the Pursuit of Faith

    Last weekend, Dr. Richard Blackburn, Executive Director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, was at Christ Church Cranbrook to lead a Healthy Congregations Workshop. The guiding principles of this workshop are derived from the work of Dr. Murray Bowen and Rabbi Edwin Friedman in family systems theory.

    “Family systems theory postulates that the operation of the emotional system reflects an interplay between two counterbalancing forces – individuality and togetherness.” Of particular significance is their study of how anxiety affects any emotional system and the individuals in it.

    Anxiety is the response of an organism to a real or imagined threat and is present in every person and relationship. Acute anxiety is a response to a real threat and most people usually adapt fairly successfully to acute anxiety. Chronic anxiety occurs in response to imaginary threats and often strains people’s ability to adapt to it.

    An emotional system may be a family, a company, a sports team, a governmental entity, or a congregation. Individuals find ways to adapt to the anxieties of the family systems from which they come and bring those behaviors into other emotional systems.

    Two key objectives of the workshop were to help each person explore and manage the anxiety in his or her life and to learn to recognize and appropriately respond to anxiety at work in the emotional systems in which they are involved.

    An example from the story of our faith is the reaction of the Hebrews when Moses was on the mountain and did not return to them as soon as some expected (Exodus 32). Aaron was left in charge of the people while Moses was away. The people gathered around Aaron and expressed their anxiety about the delayed return of Moses. Instead of responding to the anxiety of the people from grounding in the divine values and principles that shaped them as a people and him as their leader, he reacted by abdicating his leadership role and instructed them to make a golden calf, which they could worship. As a poorly defined leader, Aaron let the anxieties of the herd take charge and proposed a quick-fix solution to the imagined problem they brought to him. When Moses confronted Aaron about what he did, he blamed the people instead of accepting responsibility. He even went so far as to give a completely passive explanation for the idol’s existence: “So, I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

    Moses himself failed in leadership in the face of the fears of the people at Kadesh-barnea. When the spies brought back a fear-laden report from the land God had commanded them to enter, the people said, “Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear” (Deut.1:28 NIV). Instead of responding to their fear of an imagined threat from the reality of God’s promise of protection, Moses reacted by caving in. The result, as you know, was that the people had to wander around in the wilderness until that faithless generation had died and Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land.

    Contrast these two examples with the leadership of Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness, where he responded to Satan by managing his own inner being, during the occasion at Caesarea Philipi when Peter urged him to take another path than the one that would lead to the cross, and during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when his struggle with anxiety was so intense that he sweated blood.

    Maybe Lent can be a time for us to search ourselves and discover the anxieties that interfere with our life in community and our ability to remain calm when others around us are losing their heads. When we do that, the life of the emotional systems of which we are members become healthier and we become more human, because we make better use of the uniquely human part of our brain that allows reason to overcome the reactions that come from the more primitive parts of our brains.

    I am aware that many of the things that emerge from those more primitive parts of the human brain are necessary for survival. But when we are faced with imaginary or even potential threats, we have the God-given resources and opportunities to more fully express our humanity. And, as St. Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” It is God who calls us to live our lives from divine values and principles so that we can build up the Church, advance God’s reign on earth, and embrace God’s vision of a creation restored in God’s Son.

    That’s a worthy objective for the observance of a holy Lent.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

  • Sermon at Christ Church Cranbrook ~ April 21, 2013

     

    Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Listen to the Sermon for April 21, 2013

     Read the Sermon for April 21, 2013


     

  • Sermon at Christ Church Cranbrook ~ February 24, 2013

    The Second Sunday in Lent

     

    Listen to the Sermon for February 24, 2013

    Read the Sermon for February 24, 2013

     


  • When You Are In a Storm

    Mark 4:35-41 begins a section in this gospel in which Jesus and his disciples make six voyages back and forth across the Sea of Galilee.  In this way, Mark makes the point that the ministry of Jesus was to both Jews and gentiles.  The western side was inhabited by Jews and the eastern side by gentiles.

    Growing up, I always thought of the Sea of Galilee as a much larger body of water than it actually is.  I remember how surprised I was when I visited Israel for the first time and our tour bus stopped atop a hill overlooking the body of water.  I could see the entire thing!  It is only thirteen miles from north to south and eight miles from east to west.

    It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth.  The Jordan Valley makes a cleft in the earth and in the very center of this cleft is the Sea of Galilee, some 680 feet below sea level.  Because of this, the climate is usually very gracious and warm, but to the west of the sea are the mountains and some large gullies.  Sometimes the cold wind blows down through these gullies and causes sudden storms.  All the great writers who have lived near the Sea of Galilee have experienced these sudden storms and repeatedly reported that at one moment the water can be as still as glass and then almost without warning it can become quite turbulent with enormous waves and high winds.

    The scene described in Mark 4:35-41 finds Jesus and his disciples suddenly caught in one of these violent storms.  Jesus had just finished preaching and was tired, so he lay down and went to sleep.  When the storm arose, the waves threatened to overcome the small boat and the disciples were afraid they were going to be tossed overboard and drowned.  When they turned to Jesus, they were amazed to find him asleep.  They cried out to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus then calmly stood up and commanded the waves to be still.  The sea became calm and the storm was gone.

    Even though the disciples should have recognized who Jesus was by virtue of his command over the wind and sea, they still seem dumbfounded.   The text says, “They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”

    Don’t they remind us of ourselves?  When we find ourselves in the storms of life, don’t we have similar difficulty in placing our confidence in the One who guards and keeps us?  That may be the chief reason the story has been preserved and retold by generation after generation.  It contains important spiritual truths and we occasionally need to be reminded of them.

    Whenever we are isolated or alienated, we tend to become anxious and desperate.

    This was not the first time the disciples had been in a storm.  It was not the first time a turbulent sea had threatened to overturn their boat.  Why did they react they way they did on this occasion?  I believe it was because they felt that Jesus was unconcerned about them.  They cried out, “Don’t you care?”  And, in the face of their panic and despair, he calmed the angry sea.  Of course he cared about them and of course he cares about us.

    The storm story shows us that the disciples needed to hear a voice in whom they had confidence.

    When Jesus woke up and heard the cries of the disciples, his voice rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace!  Be still!”  You and I need to learn to listen for, recognize, and trust the voice of the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls who is greater than our greatest fear, mightier than our biggest enemy, and who has the power to issue orders to the storms that threaten us.  Our ears are particularly well atuned to other voices, particularly those that raise our anxieties.  We want the voice of our Savior to be familiar enough and clear enough to stand out above the rest.

    Wherever and whenever Christ is with us, the storms of life grow calm.

    I don’t know what is going to come to my life or yours today, but I know that Jesus Christ is with us and that his presence brings peace.  As a pastor, I have stood with people in just about every imaginable kind of life experience from remarkable victories to devastating defeats, in moments of joy and in moments of deepest sorrow.  Whether it’s been a whirlwind of celebration or a tempest of tragedy, the presence of Jesus Christ calms the storms and brings the peace which passes understanding.

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    P.S.  This text brought this hymn to mind.

  • Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ February 27, 2011

    Pulpit.350 pixels

    Listen to the Sermon for February 27, 2011

    Read the Sermon for February 27, 2011

     

  • What do you worry about?

    Jesus said, "… Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25).

    On Sunday, I’ll be in a place where this gospel will be read to a congregation of people who have plenty of things.  I wonder how the same gospel might sound to people in Haiti or Darfur or, closer to home, our neighbors in Appalachia or our Room in the Inn guests.  People who really don’t have enough may have difficulty finding the good news in Jesus’ words.

    Those who have enough and those who do not will perceive the message differently.  But the message is the same: don’t be anxious about these things, instead, look beyond them to see God’s hand at work.

    This passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount and part of Jesus’ challenge: life in the kingdom of God has different values. It includes the poor, the merciful, those who mourn. It includes our privilege and duty to bring light to the darkest places, to salt the world with mercy and justice. These words of Jesus, taken out of context, sound unrealistic to someone who is suffering. But seen in context, we realize that Jesus is reminding his followers of God’s love for everything and everyone God has created and encouraging his followers to focus on their lives as citizens of God’s kingdom.

    Jesus’ aim is to disconnect the link between value and virtue.  God did not send a hurricane to New Orleans, but God inspired thousands of compassionate followers of Jesus to help those who remain rebuild their lives.  God did not send an earthquake to Haiti, but God moved the hearts of thousands of Christians to bind up their wounds.  God did not drive people out of their homes in Darfur, but God led people to build schools for their children to restore their hope.  God did not curse the people of Appalachia with poverty, but God blesses them with believers who help them repair their homes.  In God’s kingdom, we know that God’s bounty often passes through our lives on the way to others who need it most.  We who are blessed are privileged to bless others.

    Now, on to Egypt, Syria, New Zealand…

    Ron Short Signature