Living a faithful life comes down to one thing: trust. It all comes down to trust. I suppose I shouldn’t start with that if it all comes down to it so I will back up.
So many things stem from distrust
Anxiety, Neuroticism, Eating Disorders, Phobias, Depression, Insomnia, Body Image issues, and the list could go on of problems that in some ways can be fundamentally broken down to trust issues.
I don’t mean to discount the scientifically proven role of physiology, things like serotonin and the effect of childhood trauma on developing brain systems.
However, these physiological developments occur in tandem with the psychological experience of distrust.
It’s deeper than the typical trust issues
I’m not talking about specific trust issues. There may be people in your life that deserve a little hesitation when it comes to trusting them.
What I’m talking about is deep, fundamental, foundational trust. The type of trust that lies at the bottom of your heart and gives you a disposition that makes you feel safe in the world.
This is the disposition that Jesus wants us to have. “Be not afraid.” At Mass after the Our Father, the priest prays, “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
So what is this connection between anxiety and hope?
It’s trust. If we trust in the One who promises us good things, we have no reason to be anxious.
Trust is then the core of hope. This trust is related to our own family experience, to fatherhood, to our vocations, to a lot of other things I will write about in later posts.
What makes trust so difficult?
It’s not as easy as it sounds. If it were, I would be out of a job.
So what is it that makes trust so difficult? Is living a faithful life simply out of reach for most of us?
Trust requires letting go of control. The battle, then, is between letting go and holding on. Letting go means trusting, and holding on means retaining control.
This is a simple paradigm that can be applied to most things in life. How are you responding to a specific situation? If it’s something that is causing you some sort of pain or anxiety, chances are you are holding on to something.
Isn’t it crazy that the simplest answer is to let go? Well ok, it’s not simple. But it’s also not crazy. That’s what I’m here for.
In the meantime, remember-
“I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33
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