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“I
should like you to be free of anxieties…. Succumbing to cancer in 2006, Richard Carlson only lived to be 45 years of age, yet his legacy lives on in the widely popular series of self-help books he authored with the assistance of his wife, Kristine. A psychologist, Carlson’s clinical research interest was anxiety and how it is that so many people are filled with so much anxiety and how anxiety can become disabling. Some of the titles in his series of books provide an indication of what Dr. Carlson had learned through his research: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff; Don’t Sweat with Your Family; Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff in Love; The Big Book of Small Stuff; What about the Big Stuff? Finding Strength and Moving Forward When the Stakes are High; Easier Than You Think...Because Life Doesn’t Have to be so Hard: The Small Changes That Add Up to a World of Difference; Don’t Worry, Make Money; and, Don’t Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant, and Downright Mean-Spirited People. Metaphorically, what Richard Carlson accomplished through his series of self-help books was the equivalent of rebuking the modern-day demon of anxiety and commanding that it come out of people. When the demon did as Dr. Carlson ordered, the people who were watching on were amazed. They asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” With over 26 million copies in print, published in 35 different languages, sold in over 130 countries, and as one of Oprah Winfrey’s all-time favorite guests, Dr. Carlson evidently said something powerful that struck a resonant chord deep within the people’s souls and put the demon of anxiety on notice. Richard Carlson’s fame spread across the globe. Judging solely by the popularity of his message, Dr. Carlson put his finger on an important spiritual issue that we need to consider: anxiety today has taken on demonic proportions, meaning that anxiety has control of the souls of too many people. This is an important point that we shouldn’t overlook, if only because as we read the Gospel of Mark during the Sundays of this Church year, the first miracle Jesus performs isn’t to turn water into wine. No, in this gospel, Jesus exorcises a demon. Furthermore, we heard St. Paul tell the Corinthians in today’s epistle that one of the primary demons they need to exorcise is the spirit of anxiety. He wrote: “I should like you to be free of anxieties….” So, in light of this teaching from scripture, feast your eyes on these statistics. A recent survey of the American people suggests that: · 40% of what people worry about never takes place; · 30% of what people worry about is in the past and completely out of their control; · 12% of what people worry about concerns others and is none of their business; and,
·
10%
of what people worry about concerns illnesses that might or might
not happen. Now, what that means from a spiritual perspective is that approximately 8% of what people worry about is really worth the worry. The other 92% of people are in potentially acute spiritual trouble. What is anxiety? What does it mean to be anxious? How does this demon destroy our lives? And then, as Christians, what are we to do about it? First off, and let’s be absolutely clear about this one fact: anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Anxiety is good when it helps us to deal with tense situations (like giving a speech, going out on a first date, or speaking the truth), to study harder for exams, and to stay focused upon what’s important in life. In general, anxiety assists us to cope with stress. In this sense that anxiety is a good, healthy, and useful thing. However, some people sweat the small stuff and their anxiety transforms into an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations. People afflicted by this form of anxiety are them uneasy and troubled in mind to the point that it chokes and causes debilitating distress. In this sense that anxiety is an extremely bad, unhealthy, and useless thing—an evil—because it is a freely-chosen and disabling disorder making it impossible for anyone who is afflicted by this demon to live one’s life as God intended. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that in any given year, general anxiety disorders affect nearly 40 million American adults aged 18 years and older (that’s about 18% of the population). People suffering from this demon are filled with fearfulness and uncertainty that lasts a minimum of six months and becomes increasingly disabling until it is debilitating. While this demon can be identified by its many different symptoms, all of them cluster around excessive, irrational fear and dread. People afflicted by this demon will go through their days filled with exaggerated worries and tensions, even though there is little or nothing to provoke it and, worse yet, little or nothing they can do about it. These people will anticipate disaster and are overly concerned about health issues, money, marriage and family problems, or difficulties at work. Sometimes the mere thought of just getting through the day can produce disabling anxiety. One person used these words to express her experience of disabling anxiety:
I always thought I was just a worrier. I’d feel keyed up and unable
to relax. At times it would come and go, and at times it would be
constant. It could go on for days. I’d worry about what I was going
to fix for a dinner party, or what would be a great present for
somebody. I just couldn’t let something go. One fellow expressed his experience in this way:
I’d have terrible sleeping problems. There were times I’d wake up
wired in the middle of the night. I had trouble concentrating, even
reading the newspaper or a novel. Sometimes I’d feel a little
lightheaded. My heart would race or pound. And that would make me
worry more. I was always imagining things were worse than they
really were: when I got a stomachache, I’d think it was an ulcer. About 6.8 million adult Americans (and about twice as many women as men) suffer disabling anxiety. The disorder comes on gradually and can begin across the life cycle, although the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. People afflicted with disabling anxiety can’t seem to get rid of their concerns, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation really warrants. They can’t relax; they startle easily; and, they have difficulty concentrating. Often they will have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Physical symptoms that often accompany disabling anxiety include fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, trembling, twitching, irritability, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, having to go to the bathroom frequently, feeling out of breath, and hot flashes. People afflicted by this demon oftentimes will attempt to ameliorate the physical symptoms with alcohol, prescription drugs, chemicals, or other non-prescription drugs and narcotics which, of course, only complicate and confuse matters. At the heart of the bad kind of bad, unhealthy, and useless anxiety—its demonic form—is the need to control other people and events, just as the unclean spirit in today’s gospel attempted to control Jesus by claiming to know his name and who he is. However, this attempt to be in control is a lie, because only God is in control and ultimately guides everything according to Divine Providence. And, that need for us to be in control is the clue which provides helpful guidance about how to confront and deal with this demon. In scriptural terms, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” can be translated “Let go and let God.” That, however, is something more easily said than done. Why? It requires changing how we think—in Greek, metanoia—including simple things like: · “just because someone throws you the ball doesn’t mean you have to catch it”; · “give up on the idea that more is better”; · “stop blaming others”; · “be comfortable not knowing”; · “resist the urge to criticize”; and,
·
(my
personal favorite) “just because someone give you the monkey doesn’t
mean you have to wear it on your back.” In short, this change of mind means, as Dr. Richard Carlson wrote, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” So, then, how are we to exorcize the demon “anxiety”? St. Paul provides the answer in today’s epistle: “…[Be] anxious about the things of the Lord, how [you] may please the Lord.” But, just what exactly does St. Paul mean? Rather than focusing upon ourselves and how everything in our lives seems to be conspiring against us and, then, giving in to our need to control other people and events, St. Paul recommends turning our focus toward God and becoming concerned about the things of God and what this requires. That’s sound advice because, as we become more focused upon the things of God and less upon our need to control other people and events which invites the demon of anxiety into our souls, we will quickly discover something that Blessed John Henry Newman pointed out nearly 13 decades ago, namely, “what cannot be put into words, marvelous prospects and thoughts only half understood, as well as deep convictions inspiring joy and peace.” Are you anxious? Do you try to cross bridges before you come to them? Do you find yourself more exhausted from anxiety than from work? Do you believe that what you are experiencing inside of you is more potent than what lies before you? Are you wasting today cluttering up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s difficulties? If so, the demon of anxiety may have already taken possession of your soul and it may be time for an exorcism! St. Paul reminds those who suffer from spiritually disabling and debilitating anxiety: “I should like you to be free of anxieties….[to be] anxious about the things of the Lord, how [you] may please the Lord….I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction” (1 Corinthians 7:32,35). Jesus triumphed over unclean spirits with the authority and power of God because Jesus was anxious about the things of his heavenly Father. And Jesus will continue to triumph over the demon of bad, unhealthy, and useless anxiety today as we become more anxious about the things of the Lord than our need to control other people and events.
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HOMILY
