Day 219: Giving Up Anxiety for Lent

Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

“What do you plan to do for Lent?” Gary asked me as we walked through the neighborhood this morning.

“I don’t know — it’s still ten days away.”

“I saw an ad with the guy that plays Jesus in The Chosen. It said, instead of giving up chocolate for Lent, why not give up anxiety?”

Naming Our Anxiety

We agreed that giving up worry made more sense as a spiritual practice than giving up a favorite food. But how to operationalize it?

First, you have to notice that you’re feeling anxious, Gary thought. I realized he was pointing to an important step — worry and anxiety can often “hide” as other things, like anger, ennui, or even envy.

Although I wouldn’t classify myself as a worrier, I fight a related problem: overwork. I try to work less, I really do — but there’s always something that just needs to be done. Could overwork be a mask for control and control a mask for — duh — anxiety? What was it Christ said about the lilies of the field?

Gary was onto something here.

Making It Happen

“I’d then need some way to act on it,” I said. Maybe just stopping, saying a prayer, and shifting into quiet meditation. Even two minutes could do it.

Gary thought some form of conscious reflection, like journaling, would help to deepen the awareness. That might seem like a high hurdle in a hectic day — but isn’t that the point?

The ad Gary saw was for Hallow, a Christian prayer app (complete with prayers read by Jonathan Roumie from The Chosen).

Don’t tell Gary, but I got him this book, Give Up Worry for Lent!, by Gary Zimac (because we’re more book people than app people). Same idea. I’m often not that moved by mass-marketed daily meditations, but this one looks both thoughtful and practical.

And hopefully Gary will let me borrow it ….