We all have comfort foods that we go to when we're feeling anxious or sad. God offers us that, too, although not through our stomachs! God feeds our souls with comfort through hymns, scriptures, and secular readings. If you're feeling anxious, maybe some of these suggestions will help you.
So, how have you all been doing during the last couple of weeks? Be honest! If you have been struggling with depression or anxiety – maybe even more than usual – you’re not alone. Last week, I heard on CNN that a recent Census Bureau survey found that 33% of Americans reported feeling stress, anxiety, or sadness. Last year’s figure? 8%. That’s more than a fourfold increase in negative feelings in just one year. And the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than half of Americans believe that the pandemic is taking a toll on their mental health. The collective stress of dealing with the chaos in our lives is responsible for the disruption of people’s sleep, their tendency to lose their tempers more easily, and the dreaded overeating syndrome. (You know, like buying a package of Oreo cookies and polishing it off all by yourself in one afternoon.) Jennifer Senior, a journalist for the New York Times, wrote in a recent editorial (August 5, 2020), “We are not, as a nation, all right. (We’ve) all run smack into a wall.”
People seem to hit that wall about 4 months into continuing trauma over which they have no control. I hit it about two weeks ago, just before I came down with the mystery illness that put me down for more than a week. My frantic Facebook post had friends from all over the country sending me messages of support, and phoning me to make sure that I was OK. One of my Facebook friends who is the cheeriest person on the planet posted this past week that she has been feeling especially depressed and anxious lately. I know that some of you are feeling the say way, because you’ve told me. Even Michelle Obama recently confessed to feeling a “low-grade depression” because of the pandemic, the current political situation, and the state of race relations in our country. “I’m waking up in the middle of the night,” she said, “because I’m worrying about something, or there’s a heaviness.” I tell you all this not to add to your depression, but to reassure you that if you are feeling especially anxious or stressed, it’s OK; there’s a reason for it. We’re all dealing with continuing difficult circumstances over which we have no control. We don’t even know how things will end; and that makes it all the harder!
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I get anxious and depressed, I want comfort food like that package of Oreo cookies that I mentioned earlier. I need something that will bring good memories to my mind; something that makes me feel secure again. I remember when my daughter Jessica showed up at my front door unexpectedly one afternoon during her first year in college. She was in tears. At the time, she was pledging a sorority, carrying a full course load, and thought that she had to do everything by herself. To say that she was overwhelmed would be an understatement. After I had listened to her despairing comments about how she simply couldn’t handle it and might just leave college all together, I told her to come in and take a nap in her own bed while I made a big batch of homemade mashed potatoes. In the morning, after a good dinner, a good night’s sleep, and lots of hugs from her dad and me, she headed back to school, refreshed and renewed. By the way, she joined that sorority, became an active member of it, and graduated in four years with honors. It’s amazing what comfort food can do.
We need some of that comfort food right now, because we’re all overwhelmed. We aren’t the first people to feel that way, as this morning’s psalm makes very clear. “When will you comfort me?” the psalmist asks God. “How long must your servant wait?” We’re all wondering that, too, right now, in the midst of a pandemic and political turmoil. The answer, unfortunately, is “Who knows?” and I’d be a liar if I told you anything else. But Paul talks about comfort in his second letter to the church at Corinth. He tells us that God is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.” Now, I’m pretty sure that Paul isn’t talking about a plate of mashed potatoes. What he is talking about is the certainty that God has comforted us in the past, and will do it again when we need it the most.
Let me go back to those comfort foods for just a minute. What are your comfort foods? For some people, like my daughter, it’s a big plate of homemade mashed potatoes. For others, it’s homemade vegetable soup like Mom used to make. Maybe your comfort food is crisp bacon, or a dish of macaroni dripping with thick, creamy cheese sauce. What is it about those foods that give you comfort? My guess is that they bring back memories of love, safety, and protection. Those memories are powerful things! One dish of your favorite comfort food can bring all those memories flooding back, and offer you calm when one of life’s storms hits. Do you have memories of God’s comfort; times when you knew God was there watching over you, guiding you through life’s storms? Sure, you do! But God’s heavenly comfort food isn’t a bowl of vegetable soup. God’s heavenly comfort foods are scripture passages, hymns, and your favorite inspirational readings. Let me share some of my heavenly comfort foods with you, and maybe you’ll be able to identify your own.
One of the scriptures that never fails to comfort me is Psalm 121. It begins, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where dos my help come from? My help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Another is from Psalm 139: “Where can I go from your Spirit? How can I escape your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn and settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me and your right hand will hold me.” Maybe you are comforted by the 23rd Psalm, or by a reading from one of the gospels. Find it and read it! You might even want to post it on your bathroom mirror where you can see it the first thing in the morning. Go to the scriptures whenever you are anxious or sad. You can feel God’s comfort through them.
I’ll bet that you have a hymn
that comforts you, too. One of my favorites is “This Is My Father’s World.” I
learned it when I was only 7 years old at church camp. It reminds me that God
is a whole lot bigger than I am, and that I don’t need to worry; because God’s
got this! I know that lots of you are comforted by “In the Garden,” with its
image of walking with Jesus in the cool of the morning. Don’t forget that hymn
was the hymn of the week not too long ago, and it is still posted on the church
Facebook page. You can listen to it there anytime. Even if one of your favorite
hymns isn’t a hymn of the week, go to YouTube and search for it. I’ll bet that
it’s there just waiting for you to listen to it!
Finally, maybe there is a reading that you find comforting. I love the poetry of Emily Dickinson, for example. One of my favorites is a short poem titled “Hope.” It describes hope as a bird that "perches in the soul and sings the song without words and never stops at all." I love the image of hope as a bird that cannot be silenced, even through storms! Do you have a poem, a book, or a story comforts you? Now is the time to read it!
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