One way that our faith accompanies us in our journey through the valley of anxiety is in Christian community. Drawn together by the Holy Spirit, we gather to give thanks, to experience the healing and life-giving presence of God, and to go out, renewed and sent.
We support one another. Anxious, worried, and doubting: that’s us! But in equal or greater measure, we’re also created, redeemed and drawn together for the sake of the gospel. The anxieties get inside our bodies, inside our minds; but so does the voice of faith.
This excerpt is from “I am freaking out! How your faith can combat anxiety” by Jessica Nipp, in the November 2010 Cafe. On this fifth Sunday after Pentecost, we remember fathers. Our readings are Isaiah 65:1-9; 1 Kings 19:1-4 [5-7] 8-15a (semicontinuous); Psalm 22:19-28; Psalm 42–43 (semicontinuous); Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39.