Article August 1, 2005 Issue

YOU—WORTHY AND FEARLESS

By Shelly Richardson

A RETIRED NAVY OFFICER sits in the cafe at our local library, making paper airplanes for the children who pass by. Joe lets me know that he suffers from extreme anxiety a lot these days. He worries about kids and the nation. Making paper airplanes is Joe's personal ministry and gives him joy.

It's fun watching the children throw those planes. They're designed so well that they loopy loop, even when the smallest children give them a fearless toss. Every once in a while, a plane does a nose dive and hits the floor. Yet without thinking twice, the child runs, picks it up, and tosses it again. How wonderful it would be if everyday life could be so easy that without hesitation we'd start over after a fall, or false start.

Joe's determination to resist the mental confusion and darkness associated with anxiety is impressive. He's found that striving to bless others is good medicine for his own fears, and that watching the children erases his anxiety and fills his heart with love. Joe's experience hints at a spiritual law of God: Bliss and fear (like light and dark) cannot exist together. Unfortunately, many, like Joe, are anxious about the economy, their health, and the future of the world. According to a recent Forbes magazine article, there is an increase in the number of Americans suffering from severe anxiety or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). That number is different, the article suggests, from the millions who have "normal anxiety associated with daily life" ("Health Tip: Recognizing Generalized Anxiety Disorder," June 21, 2005).

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ACQUAINTED WITH GOD, AND AT PEACE