Many of us suffer from anxiety at some level, and it can often be difficult to overcome.
We are worried about many things and our souls feel overwhelmed.
All we desire is a lasting peace.
One simple way to achieve that peace that endures is to set your priorities straight.
Venerable Fulton Sheen shares in his book Peace of Soul a central key to finding that peace which calms the mind and body.
To conquer anxiety does not mean eliminating our desires but, rather arranging them in a hierarchy.
Sheen then explains how this is to be done by illustrating a “pyramid of values.”
This pyramid of values places thingsat the bottom–and things include everything material in the universe, from a star that inspires a poet to wheat used for the baker’s bread. Above things comes [humans], and at the peak of the pyramid is God. A religious man orders his life by the pattern of the pyramid. He overcomes anxiety by making all material things subject to the human, by disciplining the body until it is subject to the spirt, and by submitting the whole personality to God.”
Often we feel anxiety when we have many worries, and sometimes worry about the smallest things in life.
However, when we re-order our desires and priorities, we can see the bigger picture and recognize how we are loved by God. We recognize that God is generous to those who love him and will provide every necessity we need, just as he told his apostles.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?
Matthew 6:25-26
If we desire peace in our soul, the first thing we should do is evaluate our priorities and see if they are in the proper order.
And today we celebrate...