On Friday I was captivated by an article in the New York Times: "Why Does Everyone Feel So Insecure All the Time?" The author means not just the personal insecurities that are foisted upon us by our culture (I'm too old! I'm too fat! I'm too ---!) But also the economic insecurities, the existential insecurities, the global insecurities.
The author wrote: “We are all, to varying degrees, overwhelmed and apprehensive, fearful of what the future might have in store. We are on guard, anxious, incomplete and exposed to risk. To cope, we scramble and strive, shoring ourselves up against potential threats. We work hard, shop hard, hustle, get credentialed, scrimp and save, invest, diet, self-medicate, meditate, exercise, exfoliate.”
When social norms have eroded into hatred and violence, when a downsizing means the loss of our health insurance, when wildfires, floods and droughts spark our apocalyptic fears... yes, there is lots about which to feel overwhelmed and fearful.
I have no magic cure for the vast, toxic structures within which we all dwell. But I do believe in the church. In our small, quiet ways we are pushing back against these forces of consumption, individualism and self-destruction. We are saying: my hope is in God. My life is in Christ. My purpose is love. My place is in beloved community.
Good People, if you are feeling tossed about by an unreasonable world, you are not alone! Come and root yourself in scripture and prayer and song. Come and breathe a sigh of relief that you are enough.
