There is so much to worry about these days, so much to steal our joy by filling our minds with stress and distress: the war in Ukraine, mass shootings that never seem to stop, natural disasters, crises among faith leaders, inflation.
And because we are so media-saturated, we know so much the minute it happens and the gruesome details of what’s happening and where it’s happening and keeps happening.
Watching the news makes us feel despair; in fact, I’ve been known to avoid the news altogether.
If you ever feel like this, and it bothers you to feel like this, and you feel like feeling like this is stealing your joy, but you feel guilty for having to shut it all out of your mind and heart, author and preacher Nadia Bolz Weber has some comforting words for you.
If you can’t take in anymore, she says, there’s a reason.
It’s all too much.
In this episode you’ll find three discernment questions to ask yourself when you’re feeling this way. If you’re high on anxiety because of all the things your one heart cannot hold, listen in and find hope!
NOTES:
“Compassion Fatigue.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/compassion-fatigue
Hatmaker, Jen. FaceBook post, September 6, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/jenhatmaker/photos/a.217119135053756/2329231783842470/?type=3
Weber, Nadia Bolz. “If You Can’t Take In Any More, There’s a Reason.” The Corners, August 17, 2021. https://thecorners.substack.com/p/if-you-cant-take-in-anymore-theres?s=r