Stress and Anxiety

Stress is the body's reaction to pressures from changes in life situations with physical, mental, and emotional responses. Stress is a normal part of life, an understood reaction to a stressful situation or pressure. Not always easy to deal with. A medical health practitioner gives some help to the readers of a parish bulletin on how to deal with stress.
 
Stress and anxiety are not always easy to distinguish. The words are often used interchangeably. Stress may be positive but anxiety is always negative and long-lasting. Stress may develop into anxiety. Both may be followed not only with headaches and the raising of blood pressure but with depression and other psychological problems. However, when we take extreme steps to avoid all pressures we are not acting wisely for a certain amount of stress in life is expected and not harmful and can be helpful. What we can do to rid ourselves of the factors that produce the stress is all for the good but some stress is not bad.
 
Stress factors make life difficult. However, often the secondary responses to the stress are what makes the problem troublesome. An example: "Why does this happen to me?"  "Why did I act so foolishly?"  and blaming oneself. Trying to solve the problem by drinking and other harmful acts are to be avoided.  It may be difficult to prevent stress but we can prevent the secondary acts that follow upon the stress.
 
Psychological capital refers to what we have within ourselves to deal with adversities. It's a positive evaluation and perception of our abilities. The ability to bounce back after a fall, resilience to recover from failure, motivation facing negative events, optimism that accepts positive events internally and persistently. It's necessary to find and cultivate such inner psychological resources. When all our efforts at overcoming the stress encountered are of no help we need to ask for help.
 
These days in the liturgical year we are hearing of the mysteries of our faith which in a word deal with the love God has for his creation. God is love and this is repeated in the liturgy. Faith is a belief in this love and the desire to accept it. However, the noise we have to contend with in our world drowns out a great deal of the messages. Below are the words of St. Francis de Sales on anxiety which we can understand as a type of stress and more serious.
 
Anxiety is the greatest evil which can happen to the soul, sin only excepted. Just as internal commotions and seditions ruin a commonwealth, and make it incapable of resisting its foreign enemies, so if our heart be disturbed and anxious, it loses power to retain such graces as it has, as well as strength to resist the temptations of the Evil One, who is all the more ready to fish (according to an old proverb) in troubled waters.

Anxiety arises from an unregulated desire to be delivered from any pressing evil, or to obtain some hoped-for good. Nevertheless, nothing tends so greatly to enhance the one or retard the other as over-eagerness and anxiety. Birds that are captured in nets and snares become inextricably entangled therein, because they flutter and struggle so much.
 
Therefore, whensoever you urgently desire to be delivered from any evil, or to attain some good thing, strive above all else to keep a calm, restful spirit,--steady your judgment and will, and then go quietly and easily after your object, taking all fitting means to attain thereto. By easily I do not mean carelessly, but without eagerness, disquietude or anxiety; otherwise, so far from bringing about what you wish, you will hinder it, and add more and more to your perplexities  (Introduction To A Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales).

The Positive Overcomes the Negative

"Mr. A speaks a great deal and  mostly with complaints." A religious sister in the Catholic Peace Weekly writes about her experiences and in this week's column on what a young friend tells her about an encounter with a person who as soon as he sits down begins complaining. Her friend respectfully but with determination: "Sorry, but that kind of talk makes me uncomfortable. Why don't you speak to the person directly yourself?" His face flushed, got out of his chair: "OK, OK  I understand," and left the room slamming the door.

Complaints may be an indirect way of calling attention to oneself. I want to be confirmed that I am right, good and just. I may be looking for comfort and looking for some kind words, possibly struggling to seek revenge for some injustice and painful situation.

The more we complain the easier the words of dissatisfaction with others come out. The world is unjust, ruthless and here I am suffering alone. They lose their peace of mind. St Francis de Sales says about this situation: they try to remove the reason for the thorns but the thorns only go deeper into the body.

In modern psychiatry, people complain a lot about health problems due to a biochemical imbalance. Stress hormones increase, resulting in sleep disorders and body aches. Even little irritations can increase the stress hormones and instigate feelings of anger and uncomfortableness.
 
Of course, those who complain are not always complaining. They also have many positive things to say, are humorous and enjoyable to be with at times. They can praise, joke and be very pleasant but it doesn't last. Negativity is not easy to overcome and being positive is not a familiar situation. They forget quickly their good feelings. They go along at peace but irritation arises. They want to be cheerful, but pain here and throbbing there is the reason for lament. The feeling of peace comes and goes like a stranger. The brain has been accustomed to this way of dealing with life's problems. Habitual complaints reinforce the negative view of the world and make it difficult to overcome even the most ordinary situations.
 
Even if my thoughts and feelings are negative when we speak and express ourselves positively, will we not change our thoughts and feelings in some way?

My sorrow and suffering of the heart are transferred to the persons who are close. Repeatedly, however, being negative and complaining about others makes others uncomfortable and tires the listener. The brain is unable to distinguish thought or imagination from the actual situation. What  we see and hear  and the feelings aroused are being transmitted to others
 
I have to tell myself every day that I am fine, there is a reason for everything, all said with a smile. Then, as you become acquainted and familiar with the positive feelings, will not the world and neighbors look brighter and clearer?

Only What Is Necessary

In the Kyeongyang magazine, a psychiatrist writes about the black hole of greed and its antidote: temperance and the golden mean. Lessons learned from life.
 
He begins with a short story by Tolstoy: How Much Land Does a Man Need? Briefly, it's about a farmer told he could have cheaply all the land he could encircle by sunset. He began early in the morning but realized in the late afternoon that he would have difficulty returning to his starting point before sunset. In that case, he loses everything. He started his return trip but was so exhausted when he arrived that he dropped dead. Tolstoy gives us the answer to his question of how much land does a man need. He needs enough to be buried.
 
We can't see beyond the horizon. We don't have permission to enter this area. Our life is limited by the horizon of time. Time beyond the horizon does not influence us. It is the great unknown. Is this concept too difficult to understand? Time goes beyond the horizon never to return. Today's rice cannot fill the hunger I had yesterday.
 
He gives the example of a student who had the opportunity to take an exam for a job. He didn't feel that he was prepared and didn't take the exam. He did come to a time when he felt he had the knowledge to pass the exam, more so than anybody else, but the second opportunity never came. Time went beyond the horizon. Once the time is gone it never returns.
 
The word moderation and temperance are often used with food and drink but not limited to that. Wordly gain, carnal desire, lust for power, and many other cravings we need to control. Our cravings are many. When not controlled the wise both in the East and West have always emphasized misery and sadness will follow.

Controlling greed is no easy task. Problem is solved if we desired the necessary amount then temperance would not be necessary But the reality is a person who desires only 1,000 dollars when received goes on to desire ten times that sum, the person who says only one room would be perfect goes on to desire a penthouse.

Life begins with acknowledging time is limited and we don't know how much. We can make a guess. Nobody will remember reading these words in a few years. If we made a graph of our time on earth it would disappear into the horizon.

We crave as if we will live here on earth forever. We don't know when life will come to its horizon. It's not given us to know. If I knew I was to die tomorrow I would use my possessions in a most significant way since nothing goes beyond the horizon. If at that stage what would we crave what would we abandon? It will be different for each one of us but we will not be craving anything materially.

Do we fret about having something? It may be a shining sports car, a beautiful face, or even the praise of others, a nice house for the family or money to have the family live in comfort. To achieve these aims we have to understand the time needed for their acquisition and weigh them against the time left before the horizon. A person in his 50s these are not something to crave.

Moderation is not something to endure. We don't know how much time before the horizon but a need to live wisely. Once we realize that time is limited, at that moment, we will want only what is needed—only what is necessary.

Awareness of Our Mission In Life

Our society continues with unrest and conflicts:  discontent, candlelight demonstrations, and 'hate speech' increases. Facing the difficulties that come with the uncertainties in life, tied to our own experiences and beliefs, especially in political matters. In democratic societies, the constitution guarantees the right of the people to freely express their views and opinions, but it is necessary to reflect on truth and the righteousness of our claims. In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times a priest, sociology professor, gives us his thoughts on the subject.
 
Democracy in modern society has been formed in solidarity and struggle by the citizens to voluntarily and independently create a "better society" against the inhuman repression and exploitation when the king alone ruled. Therefore, 'citizen consciousness' in modern society has grown along with progress in  society towards the universal values of freedom, equality and fraternity.
 
If we are caught in the web of ideology from the past: cold war, anti-communism and remain with what was imposed from the past and afraid to leave the failed formulas and old time mistakes we are not citizens with public awareness of our present reality. What is it that we mean by free citizen participating actively in society?

First, do we follow truth and sincerity in freedom?  Manipulation, distortion, and forced news spreading on SNS or YouTube is not 'truth'. "Yes  if you mean yes, no if you mean no" the words of Jesus have something to tell us in these times when truth seems hidden.

Confucius said— If a person disobeys the dictates of heaven, the words he uses will be tainted, and will spoil the work done— When we look back on our history and without proof blame the problems here in the South on the North and spread this and use it in what we say and write we are giving up our freedom as responsible citizens.

Second, are we seeking the "common good"?  Does self-interest, political party concerns, undermine our concern for the common good. The Korean Christian Association's own historical interpretation wants the president to retire, they want to make a Protestant President in their not all objective understanding of the present situation. According to the study of sociologists, social conflicts have been amplified because of the religious polarization when the Protestant was president in Korea.
 
Third, does our love for our fellow citizens especially the "marginalized and poor" have priority?  The people under the monarchy took for granted hierarchical governance and structural inequality.The privileged paid close attention to maintaining their ownership and vested rights. Despite the collapse of the Catholic Church, which represented the order of the ruling class in the French Revolution, as the religion of the country: God did not forget the poor and marginalized citizens but  progress continued in pursuit of love of humanity. Today, as polarization and the gap between the rich and the poor gets worse, the way to pursue solidarity so that the dignity of the poor is respected in the social structure becomes a compass for civic consciousness.

Fourth, people often like to return to the  past which they think was  full of honor and pride. Today, young people are not tied to the nostalgia of the past, and when grown-ups admonish them they are considered out of it and bullies.Without the proper understanding of the times it is difficult to access the agony and need of the young people, the protagonists of the future. We will be a citizens of a heavenly country when we take a step away from the comfort and convenience of the old generation and acquire the future-oriented values and the viewpoint of the future so that our children and future generations will live happily and fully in the common house of mankind.

The Second Vatican Council proclaims the people of God as the center of ecclesiology, ahead of the hierarchical church. However, the people of God are not only those who obey the orders of the state and the church but also the children of God who actively perform their roles as priest, prophet and kingly roles in everyday life. In addition to the Holy Spirit, it is the 'citizens' who contribute to building of God's kingdom. "Let all Christians appreciate their special and personal vocation in the political community. This vocation  requires that they give conspicuous example of devotion to the sense of duty and of service to the advancement of the common good" (Pastoral Constitution, #75)

Listening And Silence in Prayer

In a bulletin for priests, a retired priest writes about his experience with prayer in the pastoral life of a parish. One of the families in the parish community prayed for the promotion of their father and husband, an army officer. Everybody united in their efforts to secure a promotion. Unfortunately, the next year the husband failed to advance, disappointment was great, and the attendance at church stopped.
 

One young mother was depressed because of the illness of their young son. It was not a serious problem but she prayed the rosary and became a member of the Legion of Mary. She did not find the praying easy and was hoping it would help her son. However, after many months and no results she gave up her prayers. Surprisingly many people who are disappointed in their prayers of petition abandon  their faith life. 

When everything goes along smoothly believing is easy. However, difficult things happen and life has its 'shocks', "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," which for many can help the faith life grow and for others a reason for distancing themselves from God. God is no longer present.

We need to live the life of prayer, communicating with our heavenly Father; faced with difficulty we ask for help. However, God is a God of love and is always giving and it doesn't depend on the words we utter and the way they are said but our disposition in receiving. The belief that God is a personal God is important. Prayer is a conversation with God and  conversation requires speech but it is important to listen. We talk and listen to what God will say to me in this situation. Think about God's Word in the Bible and seek to find and accept God's will. Some say in great pain, they were grateful because they gained strength through prayer to overcome difficulties.
 

Followers of Jesus have confidence and faith that God loves them and is leading them. Faith means confidence in God without giving up even if we are in difficult straits and unable to understand.

"My thoughts are not like your thoughts, and my ways are not like your ways" (Isaiah 55.8). God loves. We are often trying to live according to the material and worldly values with which we daily encounter and forget the direction that God has for us. God wants us to enjoy life to the full. We often misunderstand what this means. We don't try to change God's will but to change our wills so that we can receive all that he wants to give. Prayer is mostly to change ourselves so we can receive.

When there is no interest in the spiritual values that Jesus teaches, and stay only in the asking mode for blessings— 'give me' religion— and not concerned with giving there is no difference from the faith in shamanism and superstition. A child, in the beginning, knows only to ask from parents, gradually the child grows and learns the love and the spirit of the parents and becomes mature. Our faith must also develop and mature.

Don't Steal the Future From the Young

On May 24, more than 500 youths protested simultaneously in various places throughout the country. "We can't exercise because of the fine dust"— Mathematics is important but we have a right to be educated about climate change"— "Please don't gamble with our future"— signs held high in demonstrations. So begins an article in the Catholic Peace Weekly by a member of the Bishops' Committee on the Environment.
 
Greta Thunberg, a Swedish schoolgirl, who at age 15, began protesting outside the Swedish parliament for immediate action to combat climate change and will boycott classes until she sees efforts to bring change.
 
In a  lecture held in Stockholm last November, Thunberg said, "Why should I study when the future may disappear? You say you love your children, but you are stealing their future." She emphasized the urgency and importance of developing climate change measures.
 
The main contents of the demonstrations conducted by the Korean youths following Greta's lead are to put environmental education into the curriculum. Which reminds us of the fact that unlike other countries, Korea lacks basic efforts for dealing with climate change.
 
The educational climate of Korea is focused on entrance examinations to college; lack of education for survival is a painful point. Unlike adults who feel discomfort because of climate change but do nothing, the young people are demanding we do something with the continued abnormal temperatures, fine dust, etc., youths are demanding we face the problem and urge resolution.

According to the Climate Change Countermeasures Index (CCPI) 2019, Korea is ranked 57th out of 60 countries in terms of the climate change response index and has the stigma of 4th place among carbon dioxide emission countries of OECD.
 
This generation is borrowing the use of the planet from future generations, and conscious only on how to use and develop the earth? 27 years ago, at Rio's UN Climate Change Conference, despite the serious warnings of climate change and dangers ahead, is it not only the young people who are conscious of the problems ahead?

We know there is something wrong with our planet, but don't know it has anything to do with me. It's a Chinese problem, a foreign matter, the earth is a strange place, and it doesn't register that the problems are caused by me. It's convenient after all to use delivery services for ordered goods, power plants need to operate, environmentally harmful substances are produced, disposable items such as packaging materials and containers are used, waste generated. How much awareness do adults perceive our actions and habits cause pollution and that these things are interconnected and cause climate change? Yes, it will bring about a new world order which we find difficult to accept.

Unlike adults who think admission to college, Korean language study, English and Mathematics are what's important, young people want the right to receive climate change education. Young people's values and environmental sensitivity from childhood can lead to action. Adults desire for comfort and abundance is it destroying the future of the children they love?

She ends the column with these words of Thomas Friedman:"Destroying the tropical forest is like burning the masterpieces of the Louvre to make dinner."

Fake Science

A professor in research and teaching writes in the Kyeongyang magazine about fake science.  He goes back to his years as a child of five and remembers a trip he made from Pusan to Masan on a steam engine. Everything was new to him. He had all kinds of thoughts on how the train was moving along the tracks with not one of his thoughts correctly understanding the situation and seeing everything with the eyes of a young child. Understandable, but is this not the situation in society with many seeing reality with the eyes of a 5-year-old?
 
YouTube is a vehicle in which all can make their views known to the whole world; much of it helpful, much harmful, for watching untruth does great harm to our ability to judge matters of life when seen as true.
 
Not long ago he was talking to his colleagues about a YouTube group asserting that talk of a round earth was a lie and publishing this on YouTube. The professor a curious person, knew it was a waste of time, but curiosity was so strong he went to the video and quickly went through the video at a quick pace. Despite knowing all the facts and all the voyages in space they maintained the earth was flat. What is more of a surprise is to see the followers that the YouTube presentation received, and the many positive comments?

When he was a child he remembers reading an article where a priest using a forked branch from a tree to look for underground water, wrote about learning this from a French foreign missioner. In the summer months, we have long dry spells this was an effort to alleviate the problem.
 
This method, dowsing, was in use in Europe. The person using the forked branch and responding to the surrounding environment searched for underground water. Since the farmers saw this being done they were awestruck and the method continued to spread. The writer tells the readers that in Korea anywhere you dig the chances of finding water are good. Although in Korea dowsing has been shown not to be scientifically based, it continues.

A similar bogus 'quantum resonance system' using the same reasoning is sold with a high price tag. They add a fancy scientific name and even though they don't understand they are impressed with the scientific name.

A priest in one of the parishes in which the professor lived in a sermon said the stars do not give their light but reflect the light of the sun. He was mixing up the stars with the moon which reflects the light of the sun and extending it to the stars which like the sun with nuclear fusion give off their own light.
 
In the past, the planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were considered stars but since they are giving off reflected light they are called planets. The professor was concerned that when the children heard the sermon and knew what they had been taught in school would have less concern for their faith.

Our ancestors for the most part, understood the earth to be flat and the sun and moon to move around the earth and this was the thinking of the many writers of the Scripture. But the Scriptures are not teaching science but a way of life and adapting the teaching to the thinking of the readers of that time.

Jesus tells us to be children but this is in a spiritual sense. St. Paul tells us the relationship our faith should have with reason. "Surely I should pray not only with the spirit but with the mind as well" (I Cor. 14:15). "I would rather say five words that mean something than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, you are not to be childish in your outlook. You can be babies as far as wickedness is concerned, but mentally you must be adult" (ICor.14: 19-20).
 
Jesus was not happy with those who were looking for miracles. Are we looking today for things that are not reasonable and desiring to see miracles? It is well to remember that God works also in nature and through our reason.