Fear, Chaos and the Non-Anxious Leader

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A colleague approached me this week and asked if I had any worship resources that address the feeling that the world is in chaos. He noted that multiple congregants have expressed fear and concern about recent happenings.

Church shootings, machete attacks, earthquakes, wildfires, missile attacks on military bases AND civilian aircraft, not to mention impeachment, contribute to the feeling that the world has gone mad. Add in the recent “separation agreement” announced by a group of United Methodist leaders and you can imagine how a congregant can feel unmoored.

What can we do?

Truthfully, there’s not much we can do about the chaos in the world, other than pray. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care. It just means we need to focus on what we can do. As with most things, one of the most important things we can do is manage our own response.

I ran across a meditation on The Liturgists Podcast. It’s called, “You Are Safe.” It’s based on an excerpt from the book, Emmanuel’s Book II: The Choice for Love.  Here’s a sample:

What does the voice of fear whisper to you? Fear speaks to you in logic and reason.

It assumes the language of love itself.

Fear tells you, “I want to make you safe.”

Love says, “You ARE safe.”

Fear says, “Give me symbols. Give me frozen images. Give me something I can rely on.”

Loving Truth says, “Only give me this moment.”

Fear would walk you on a narrow path promising to take you where you want to go.

Love says, “Open your arms and fly with me.”

Ask your higher wisdom if it is not true, without worry, you would have arrived exactly where you are right now. And more pleasantly. Worry and fear are not tickets on the express train. They are extra baggage. You were going that way anyway.

This meditation speaks to me. It reminds me of the value of a non-anxious presence. When the world is in chaos, a leader who takes responsibility for self, and is fully present in the moment, is a means of God’s grace.

A non-anxious leader is someone who is able to focus on her own functioning in healthy ways. She knows that the best thing she can do is focus on what she can do, not what she can’t. She is able to trust in a God who ordered chaos into creation. She knows that anxiety is extra baggage that makes any situation worse.

Contrast this with leaders who blame external conditions or other people for their problems. Rather than being fully present, they focus on things outside of their control instead of taking responsibility for self. They breed fear, chaos and anxiety.

I say this a lot, but the best thing you can do for the world, your family and the people you lead is to be a non-anxious leader. Say what you believe while giving others the freedom to disagree. Stay connected, especially with the most anxious. Trust in God. Trust yourself. If God is going to change the world through you, this is how I believe it will happen.

The Rev. Jack Shitama serves as executive director of Pecometh Camp & Retreat Ministries in Maryland.  This post is republished with permission from his blog The Non-Anxious Leader.