The gift of being human

There are times when anxiety seems to have a voice of its own. It can fill our minds with what ifs, draw our attention towards what might go wrong, and make the present moment difficult to inhabit.

Perhaps you know that feeling.

We live in a world where there is plenty to be anxious about. Yet, alongside the pressures we face, there is also a growing recognition that wellbeing is not simply about being productive, positive or resilient. Sometimes wellbeing begins with something much simpler: admitting that we are not always okay.

Christianity has never suggested that faith makes us immune from anxiety. The Bible is full of people who worry, grieve, doubt and feel overwhelmed. The Psalms, in particular, give voice to the whole range of human emotion. They remind us that we don't have to tidy ourselves up before bringing our lives before God.

Jesus himself speaks tenderly about our tendency to worry. His invitation is not to pretend that everything is fine, but to notice the world around us, to receive each day as it comes, and to trust that we are held within something larger than ourselves.

For those who are spiritually curious, perhaps this is one place to begin: not with certainty, but with attention.

What happens if, for a few moments each day, we become still? What might we notice if we allow ourselves to breathe, to be grateful for something small, or simply to say, “God, if you are there, help me to know that I am not alone”?

You don't need to have all the answers. You don't even need to be sure what you believe.

Perhaps wellbeing, at its deepest level, is discovering that we are more than our worries - and that we don't have to carry them entirely by ourselves.

With every blessing,

Andrew Zihni
Dean of Gloucester