Quick answer: No. Depression is not a sign that you lack faith. Depression grows out of stress, biology, family history and life circumstances, and it affects people of deep faith just as it affects anyone else. The Bible is full of faithful people who sank into despair, including the prophet […]
anxiety
105 posts
Rigid rule-keeping can feed anxiety and perfectionism. But choosing relationship, grace, and mercy brings true healing over legalism. A Sabbath brings us to a deep rest. In the little country town where I live, we have a volunteer fire brigade. At times we hear the fire siren wail, and […]
Discover the life-changing power of Sabbath rest. Learn how to stop the busy traffic of life, plan ahead, and fill your cup today. Keep the Sabbath and the Sabbath keeps you. I live right next to a beautiful beach. Kawakawa Bay is very tidal, and at low tide it […]
If there is but one thing that I need the most when I am anxious, it is this. Presence. In depression, we need this. Having someone safe alongside me in my fear. It is the parent holding a child’s hand as they go off to surgery. The advocate who […]
Stop the wild swing between past regrets and future fears. Learn how to ground your thoughts in the “Now” by binding truth to your heart. Sometimes my thoughts seem to go to another time. They don’t stay grounded in the here and now. They either swing out into the future […]
Who is on the throne of your life? What is keeping you anxious? Perhaps something needs to change. Back in the eighties, Bob Dylan came out with the song ‘Gotta Serve Somebody.’ In the song, Bob goes through many life scenarios of who or what you might serve. You may […]
When guilt isolates, “I am with you” is the only bridge back to hope. The power of solidarity helps us in the face of judgment and shame. How are they going to respond? How will they react? They had done some things they knew would go against what everyone thought […]
Are you waiting for the other shoe to drop? It’s called anticipatory anxiety, but you can find release and the anxiety can go. You know it’s going to happen; it’s just a matter of when. And in that waiting, in that zone of tension, you sit. How do you hold […]
I keep trying to get things right, but there’s no more penance to pay. It’s all been taken care of. I woke up the other morning with this phrase running through my head. ‘No more penance to pay’ What does this word ‘penance’ mean? Penance comes from the Latin […]
You would think that going to church should be anxiety free wouldn’t you? An email from someone came to me this week. ‘I was told [by a christian counsellor] that God’s antidote for anxiety was pray right, think right, do right. I went to church today and was filled with […]