The Path to Peace
It is 10 years since I published my book on Stress.
The original theme is sound, I think: Stress is what we experience when we feel out of control. We long for control, but cannot attain it. We aim for perfection, but it keeps eluding us. We want to be productive and creative, but if we're honest, we spend too much time on unfocused, mind-numbing activity.
No wonder we're stressed. But God is not stressed. He knows the end from the beginning. All things are under his wise and sovereign control. However, the glorious world that he made is in rebellion against him. We desperately long for control, but we were never meant to live that way. How can we learn to control what is within our power to do so, in a godly and wise way; and how can we leave everything else in the hands of a sovereign God, who is in control of all things!?
The Book of Common Prayer General Confession, in modern English, prays:
Almighty and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts…
“We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts…” We confess our self-centredness, arrogant planning without reference to God, and proclivity to try to run our world, without acceding to the rule of our creator.
All of this needs to be confessed, of course. But in the 21st Century, we might also need to confess our addiction to our devices – those pieces of equipment to which we have become so attached, that we let run our lives, rather than be mastered by us.
Haven’t we have followed too much these devices and desires? And in a particularly anxious generation, we need the Lord to deliver us from “doom scrolling”!
Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who has written extensively on the challenges of modern living. Whilst he is an atheist, he is not unsympathetic to the good which religion can do in certainly circumstances. Most recently, The Anxious Generation, deals with what he calls the “great rewiring of childhood” and its impact on mental health.
The two key trends which he has observed are “overprotection in the real world” and “under protection in the virtual world.”
He plots of the transition from the “play-based” world, experienced by 10-12 year olds of my generation, to the “phone-based” world of 10-12 year olds now.
This was not caused by the global lockdowns experienced by much of the world during the COVID-19 outbreak but was in existence before. However, the impact of screen-based communication and the “stay home/stay safe” message during the pandemic, accelerated this trend.
He has plenty to say about how we address issues of anxiety, particularly amongst Gen Z. I have been particularly struck by his comments about the role of religion (bearing in mind that he is an atheist).
He argues that there are six things which all religions exemplify: shared sacredness; embodiment; stillness, silence and focus; transcending the self; slow to anger, quick to forgive; and, finding awe in nature.
Each of these need more unpacking, but for me, the Christian answer to stress in 2025 would include: return to corporate worship; reengage with physical community; practice Christian meditation; put to death your self; be slow to anger, quick to forgive; and spend time in the created world.
So, there is plenty more thinking to do on all of these areas, but I still believe that the best answer to stress is to be found in knowing and trusting our sovereign God and working out that faith in the way we live each day! Maybe, once again, we can rediscover the path to peace.
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Revd Dr Simon Vibert is Vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water, Surrey. He has written a number of articles and books. Some of them have been published by The Latimer Trust and can be found here.
IVP have expressed an interest in having Simon revise the book he wrote a few years back on Stress in the light of the challenges of a global pandemic, and the lockdowns which we all experienced. In the meantime you can find his book here.