anxiety

this morning i finished an onbeing episode with david steindl-rast. one somewhat random direction the conversation took was on the subject of anxiety.

steindl-rast explained that the root of the word anxious has to do with the struggle of giving birth. it deals from what the mother and the child feel.

however, he goes on to explain that anxiety itself isn’t bad. it feels bad but getting through it creates new life and preserves old (mother and child).

what is bad, though, is fear combined with anxiety. in the worst case, it causes death. i.e. when a mother or child is unable or too afraid to move through the discomfort of birth, the outcomes can be deadly for one or both.

the trick is to embrace the anxiety while moving forward through the fear.

this analogy carries through on so many levels, including racial anxiety. our nation and communities are racially anxious… but new birth is coming.

it must…

right?