November 5, 2007

Anxiety

Sometimes in ministry someone will come up to you and thank you for some word that touched them in a special or helpful way. Usually you have no recollection of saying any such thing, which is good, because it helps you to refer the grace to God and away from yourself. But it is encouraging to think that the Holy Spirit is making use of your speech to help someone hear about the grace God wants to give them.

One example for me is the time I told my formation director that I was struggling with the anxieties of ministry and community life. So he said:
The poor man is perpetually anxious.

That really stuck with me, and it reminds me that a true vow of poverty commits me to a life that will be anxious at times. And it also reminds me to be humble, because my anxiety is as nothing next to the struggles of those who are the real poor of this world.
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