eChurch Blog

The Holy Scriptures are plentiful with passages addressing anxiety. Both the apostle Paul and Jesus were masters at addressing the problem of anxiety. I have often said Jesus was the best Cognitive Behavioral therapist there ever was. This is evidenced in Matthew 6:25-34 as Jesus provides a cognitive reframe on the habit of worry: “and why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith.” (Matt. 6: 28-30 NASB.) Jesus was an expert at challenging the belief system that causes cognitive distortions.

Paul focuses on both cognition and behavior in Philippians 4:6-9, as he presents a formula for managing anxious thoughts. In this first half of the formula, he prefaces this passage with a statement “the Lord is near” (v.5b). This statement lays the groundwork for dealing with anxiety of any kind. Recalling this truth can be comforting for those experiencing the loneliness and misunderstanding that often accompany anxiety.

The next point he makes is about the skill of problem solving. This is heard in Paul’s admonishment to pray about everything instead of worrying. He carefully and specifically lays out what prayer should look like in this regard: “tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done” (v.6-7). This concept of thankfulness and gratitude deserves a strong emphasis. Gratitude is the antidote for worry. One cannot be thankful and express gratefulness and at the same time be worried about many things. The brain cannot deal with these concepts simultaneously because they are completely juxtaposed. As a result of this exercise in gratitude the distorted beliefs are exposed for what they are.

Paul continues to instruct us further: “And if we do this we are promised that we will experience God’s peace…a peace that passes understanding” (v.7) and “far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”  In the vernacular, this is a peace that will blow your mind! Paul emphasizes this is no ordinary peace; and that peace has a purpose: to “guard our hearts and minds” (v.7).

Paul then presents the second half of the formula which is to consider how we think, being careful to set our minds on what is “true, honorable and right” (v.8). Cognitive integration is a key component in treating anxiety, and distraction is an important skill in shifting the focus from the internal to the external. He directs the anxious heart to distract away from deleterious thoughts to those that are “pure, lovely, and admirable, excellent and worthy of praise “(v.8). Paul knew the effort that must be put forward to literally change the way we think. This is emphasized in the next step: practice.

“Keep putting into practice all that you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing” (v.9) Therapists know the benefits of repetition and practice. After all, exposure therapy is essentially the practice of exposure to the hierarchy of fears. As one is exposed to the fear provoking stimuli, over and over, it loses its grip. Paul ends this formula as he started it, with the reminder that as one practices these things, the God of peace will be near.

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Self congratulatory headlines abound today, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi and his cronies.

Well whoopee.

What about that murderous tyrannical despot Mugabe, who seemed able to swan through Europe recently, to attend the Vatican beatification ceremony of the late Pope John Paul II?

All Mugabe needed was a temporary EU travel ban exemption.

Why is there no international arrest warrant issued for him?

Here’s a taster of Mugabe’s new target:

Catholic priests are facing arrest and torture by President Robert Mugabe’s secret police masquerading as Mass goers. The dictator’s instruments of repression have turned their attention to the Church, branding it an enemy of the state…

…..continue

The following excitable headline has appeared over at Liberal Conspiracy:

UK Muslims prouder of gay rights than Christians

The title has been extrapolated from a youGov poll for Demos, funded by the Runnymead Trust.

The question posed in the survey was:

Are you proud of how Britain treats gay people?

Here are the results:

46.8% of Muslims agreed – 34% neither here nor there – 19.1% disagreed.

vs

38.3% of Presbyterians agreed – 43.2% neither here nor there – 18.5% disagreed.

45% of Roman Catholics agreed – 43% neither here nor there – 12.1% disagreed.

46.5% of Church of England agreed – 41.8% neither here nor there – 11.7% disagreed.

The first observation to make is that the statistics that gave birth to this breathless headline, are only marginally different from one another, and are based on those that agreed with the statement.

The second observation revolves around the question itself.

Are you proud of how Britain treats gay people?

It strikes me that if I view our society as one that continues to discriminate against the gay community – as many of the gay websites seem to indicate – and am happy with this, then I will answer the question in the affirmative.

If, on the other hand, I view our society as making strides towards gay rights and equality, and am happy with this, then I will answer the question in the affirmative.

If I feel that the gay community has won too many rights and equalities, then I will disagree.

If I feel that the gay community has not won enough rights and equalities, then I will disagree.

Does this not render the answer to this question as irrelevant nonsense?

UPDATE: Liberal Conspiracy have now changed their misleading headline to:

UK Muslims prouder of gay rights than others

ANOTHER UPDATE: Sunny Hundal just Tweeted me this lame excuse:

I only changed the headline because it otherwise went on to 3 lines

Yeah right.

We all enjoyed Charlii’s first sermon, on “Interpersonal Quantum Dynamics in the Context of the Peacable Kingdom” this evening.

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Over the last few days there’s been much coverage of the Israeli Vatican Ambassador Mordechay Lewy’s surprising comments praising Pope Pius XII, for saving Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome.

The comments by Mordechay Lewy, the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, were some of the warmest ever made by a Jewish official about Pius. Most have been very critical of his record.

In an indication of just how sensitive the subject of Pius is among Jews, Lewy was quickly assailed by a group of Holocaust survivors.

Lewy, speaking at a ceremony Thursday night to honor an Italian priest who helped Jews, said that Catholic convents and monasteries had opened their doors to save Jews in the days following a Nazi sweep of Rome’s Ghetto on October 16, 1943.

“There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on,” he said in a speech.

“So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true,” he said.

The questions over Pope Pius’ role during the Nazi era are a continuing cause of antagonism in Catholic-Jewish relations, with some Jews accusing Pius of turning a blind eye during the Holocaust.

Lewy went on to say last Friday:

…..that he expected his comments to cause a stir but that he was standing by them.

Well, it looks like the pressure got to him and he’s no longer standing by his comments, as today he backtracked somewhat:

Ambassador Mordechai Levy said in a statement that his personal judgment about the role of Pius, the Vatican and Catholic Church during the war had been “premature” since the issue is still being researched.

There’s been a little online theme running recently, relating to the Church and social media.

The Church has something to learn from bloggers, that is, from those who communicate through the Internet, beginning with their way of freely expressing themselves in an up-to-date language.

They’re not my words, but the words of Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli – President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications – reported in the L’Osservatore Romano, following the recent Vatican blogmeet.

Richard Littledale reflects on how silly social media can be.

Fr David Cloake is concerned with the increasing gulf developing between social-media aware Christians, and those who are not. Robb picks up on this theme.

Did you know that Twitter is mentioned in the Bible?

Insomniac, I twitter away, mournful as a sparrow in the gutter. - Psalm 102:7 MSG

Like a swallow,like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; My eyes look wistfully to the heights; O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security. - Isaiah 38:14 NASB

Who knew?

Dr Jim West alerts us of an article citing a new study that finds anonymous web trolls experience the same feeling of abandon and power as alcohol intoxication.

When people lose their inhibitions, they often behave in a manner more consistent with their true motives or character. At the same time, they also tend to be more easily influenced by their environment.

“In effect, disinhibition can both reveal and shape the person, as contradictory as that may sound,” Professor Galinsky said.

The end result is that power, alcohol and anonymity can all inspire either strong pro- or anti-social sentiments in people.

The study may help explain why anonymous commentators on the web often appear to hold extreme views.

Dr Darryl Cross, a psychologist at Crossways Consulting, said many people believed there were no repercussions for their actions online.

“It’s the fact that they’re not confronted visually with another person,” he told news.com.au.

“People believe the myth that they can say things that ordinarily they wouldn’t be able to say just because they are online.”

Explains a lot.

And finally, it’s great to discover the Romanian Orthodox Church utilising the Interweb:

The Romanian Orthodox Church, known as a bastion of conservatism, has broken a taboo by embracing the Internet and tending to its flock via cyberspace.

Believers are now invited to send prayers via the Internet, seek their soulmate on Orthodox-only matrimonial websites and watch online the funerals of their loved ones.

Since the dynamic and comparatively young — at 59 — Patriarch Daniel became the shepherd of some 19 million Romanian Orthodox believers in 2007, God’s word has been increasingly delivered via sermons broadcast live.

The Church has even set up its own media group, Basilica, including a radio and a TV station, a news agency, a newspaper and a “pilgrimage agency”, Basilica Travel.

Scores of websites and blogs disseminating Orthodox teachings and facilitating exchanges among believers have also mushroomed, creating what analysts here are calling the “Internet Church”.

A sociologist specialising in religions, Mirel Banica said that such websites may raise a few eyebrows but they answer a real need.

“People are busy, many Romanians live abroad and no longer have time to perform all the Orthodox rituals the way their parents used to,” he told AFP.

Nearly three million people from this former communist state which joined the EU in 2007 have emigrated over the last few years, looking for better paid jobs in the West.

With Orthodox churches sometimes far away, “they resort to the Internet when it comes to commemorating their dead relatives, for instance,” said Banica.

For the sociologist, “the development of the Orthodox blogosphere is religion’s answer to the challenges of modern times.”

One of the most widely visited such websites, www.crestinortodox.ro — which had a record 72,000 visitors on Christmas eve — invites believers to send prayer requests online.

“Romanians abroad will have their name read during religious services and get help in times of crisis,” the website reads.

Don’t forget that today (25th June) is Armed Forces Day.

We must pray and support these brave armed forces personnel in any way we can, including the oft forgotten families left behind during tours of duty.

It seems that virtually every day brings us news of another soldier killed in action. We have a duty to remember and pray for those families left bereaved.

Many serving Christians are among those deployed, and are involved across the whole spectrum of operations, from field medical services to ships’ operations rooms. This includes chaplains who carry out an important role in providing spiritual and moral support to the troops.

Join me in praying for our deployed servicemen and women who are doing their job in difficult political and diplomatic and increasingly hostile circumstances.

Pray 4 Our Forces have resources to assist you as you pray and a monthly prayer alert.

Here’s a link to the Armed Forces Christian Union.

Feel free to write a prayer in the comments.

Just to alert you of an exhibition that has opened at the British Museum called, Treasures of Heaven: saints, relics and devotion in medieval Europe, which runs until 9th October.

The Reluctant Sinner has all the details and Archbishop Vincent Nichols has described this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and urged all Catholics to make the effort to attend.

Admission is £12 and the British Museum will also be holding talks, films and workshops linked to the exhibition.

It seems fitting to share this on Corpus Christi.

Last Saturday was Caleb’s first communion with the Catholic Church:

This super photo capturing the moment was taken by Rebecca Northway.

Caleb is ten years old and already turning into fine young man.

The First Holy Communion was so special. Our priest – Fr. Liam – is so wonderful with the children, he engages them with such love and gentleness, but is very firm with the parents!

He spoke on God’s love and how the body and blood of Jesus gives us the love to love others. He thanked the parents for loving their children, and encouraged them to continue in that love, as our love of our children is how they know the love of God. Such a simple but profound message.

Each child had a part to play in the Mass, as well as being in the procession, they brought readings or prayers, or helped with the offerings. Each child was called up by name and individually received the Holy Gifts, then the rest of the congregation. The church was absolutely packed solid, and the sheer joy was palpable. That day that will be etched in our memory, and of course Caleb’s, forever.

With an ever increasing frequency I’m asked why I’m converting to Catholicism. This usually comes by way of email, complete with an admonition and dire warnings.

Well, Vic the Vicar has just posted the following comment on his blog, which goes some way in answering this query.

When we move away from our counter-cultural position so that we can, by being no different from the rest of the world, we have nothing to offer for we have been evangelised by the world rather than it by the message of Christ crucified and risen.

Note: Obviously I do know Vic is an Anglican priest.

Vic – as usual – is right on the money, and this is one of things that so attracted me to Catholicism.

I love the fact that in this ever rapidly changing society of ours, the Catholic Church stands virtually unchanging and unwavering in the midst of the zeitgeist tempest.

So many Churches appear to be under the illusion that it needs to ape the society around it, in order to be attractive. Jesus Christ is, and always will be, topsy-turvy to this world, or rather, the world is upside down.

The very allure of the Church lies in its eternal and unchanging message.

That’s an irony lost on so many.