Stress. Upset. Loneliness. Heartache. Anxiousness. Worry. Anger. Regret. Conflict.
Society tells us these states are part of being human. So we accept them as inevitable, looking everywhere for relief but not a cure. We believe all this dis-ease is normal.
But what if it isn’t?
Some people believe that religion is the opiate of the masses, a suppressant to keep people passive so they don’t cause trouble. Others believe God is dead, a fantasy designed to dupe poor, uneducated and unscientific souls into thinking life can be better than it is.
When you unpack these beliefs, the underlying message is, “Sorry folks, life stinks, and you die—end of the story.”
If you agree, I won’t try to convince you otherwise. But if you have one shred of doubt in your mind and heart that this dark, depressive outlook is NOT what your intended destiny is, stick with me.
Does it seem improbable that someone or something supernatural could “save” you from a life of anxiety? Salvation is a dirty word in the secular world. It connotes the idea of foolish escapism.
Have you considered that people who laugh at salvation through Jesus Christ want you to stay down with them in the pit of stress, upset, loneliness, heartache, anxiousness, worry, anger, regret and conflict? Could they secretly fear that if you find sustained happiness and peace through Jesus Christ, they are the ones who will look stupid and misguided?
The cure for your anxiety is a saving love that lifts you from the mess you have accepted as normal. This love isn’t the ordinary, flawed kind of love from our well-meaning partners, families, and friends. A love that is often withdrawn out of fear when we don’t meet their expectations or lash out because of our pain.
Only a supernatural, other-worldly kind of love can shatter the illusion that happiness and peace depend on getting the kind of life we want. Only a powerful, piercing love can upend the dead-end belief that life is a struggle with a few moments of pleasure sprinkled here and there to make it bearable.
This extraordinary love tells us with every fiber of its being:
You mean so much to me that I will come down into your darkness and walk with you, talk with you, cry with you, laugh with you, hug you, die for you and raise myself three days later quashing your belief in a purely material world.
You will know that I am no fantasy. You will understand that I, your supernatural, loving God, who intends for you a happy heart, free of anxiety, have not abandoned you. I am not an illusion. I am not an opiate for the masses. I am the cure. Let me love you and you will see.
This invitation Jesus extended to an anxious and despairing world 2000 years ago continues to be his invitation today through the Holy Spirit to every person regardless of background or belief – if they will accept it.
If you want to cure your anxiety, give Jesus access to your heart. Let him perform a heart transplant, trading your fearful, anxious heart for his patient, kind, humble, hopeful, trusting, persevering one, restoring you to the joyful, energetic life that is your true destiny.
Listen to me now. If you’ve exhausted every other means of resolving your anxiety and distress or are merely curious, why not accept Jesus’ invitation to you?
You’ve got nothing to lose except some of the anxiety that keeps you up at night, destroys your dreams, and sabotages your ability to live a fearless and fruitful life.
Amen.
The Radical Catholic 
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