Fearlessness in Time of Delta
Wanda Skowronska
While most think of fear generally in terms of anxiety and agitation caused by the nearness of danger, we usually expect such fear to go. But this is not necessarily the case in our pandemic. As many have observed, fear plays a key role in twenty-first-century consciousness and is not simply associated with catastrophic threats, and there are plenty in our world, but also the quiet fears of everyday life. The pandemic with its lockdowns, daily reports of variants, and constraints underlines such fears. Scott Bader-Saye says in Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear (2007) that, “We seem fated to rely on fear to create unity, because it seems to be the only foundation we can find once we recognize that we have no shared story. Or, to put it another way, fear becomes the story we share in the absence of any other shared account of goods and goals.”
Catholics, however, do have a story, a shared set of convictions and life, centered on a loving God Who surrounds us with His love every moment of our lives. This has not changed, nor is it just a ‘nice’ thought. In fact, there is even empirical evidence that Catholics and believers in God generally, have a better well-being than those who do not.
A study conducted by the British Office for National Statistics questioned more than 300,000 people from 2012 to 2015 asked respondents to rate how happy and anxious they had felt the previous day and their level of general life satisfaction — stating their religious and ethnic background. One clear result emerged — that people from all different faiths from all ethnic backgrounds are happier than those who have no religion. “Happier” here meaning lower rates of anxiety and depression. Middle-aged atheists were the unhappiest. Of course, that does not mean that believers in God are never anxious – it just means they are significantly less so. Similar results from Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Psychological Research from around the globe confirm these findings. They are similar for men and women and across cultures.
Why is this so? The shared convictions of many religions regarding fellowship, cooperation, and pro-social behavior, often make some religious groups the mainstays of social support in times of trouble. It is the sense of connection that is of primary importance, and this extends beyond the social ecology to the spiritual ecology too. While churches were closed, people still connected with Mass online, prayed with friends over the phone, rang each other. It is amazing that in such recent “connection-frenzies” that phone lines have not collapsed through over-use! Determined Catholics will find a way – to help the marginalized and lonely, as well as their friends.
The sense of connectedness with friends on earth, and with God, especially in times of intense suffering, is a unique psychological and spiritual buffer which helps us endure fears in our lives. Genuine religion offers a deep resilience to believers. Psychologist Martin Seligman, not a Christian, admits this as one of his findings after decades of studying resilience in his work on Positive Psychology.
Another reason for increased well-being is that religious (particularly Christian) groups face death with greater equanimity. Belief in life after death buffers anxiety about death and casts a different light on everyday life. We know we are headed somewhere. We know our heavenly Father loves us. Our spiritual ecology is more important than the physical one!
Someone commented on social media recently that many fear Delta but that is because they have forgotten the Alpha and the Omega. Remember it is HE, the Alpha and Omega, Who holds us close, mitigates our fears, and is with us every moment of our days.
[resources: locutions to a priest during Adoration]
