Pressure and Trust

A few years ago in Virginia an explosion occurred in a most unusual location for such an incident: in a garbage truck! Nearby office buildings were evacuated and two firefighters hospitalized due to the release of a poisonous gas. An investigation showed that the explosion was the result of the compacting of a substance disposed of as garbage, namely calcium hypochlorite, a powdered form of chlorine, which normally is harmlessly dissolved in swimming pools.

This occurrence could well provide a similitude for the effect of life’s normal activities. If they are dissolved and diffused through normal performance of duties, they are characterized by energy, vigor, and vitality for accomplishing things. Yet if put under excessive pressure, ordinary activities can explode into dangerous problems--physical, emotional, and even spiritual. Generally, we refer to this as stress.

In a Harvard study sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association, it was shown that recently divorced persons are five times more likely to be involved in fatal car accidents than are others who are not under the stress of adjusting to the trauma of divorce. Similar high-pressure situations, such as job stress, being fired, breakup of a love affair, quarrels, overwork, and so on, are responsible for more traffic fatalities than is abuse of alcohol (although substance abuse is itself, consciously or subconsciously, used as a means to diminish or escape stress). Thousands upon thousands of clinical tests have definitively shown that the pressures of life, if not coped with adequately, will inevitably be deleterious to one’s physical or mental health in any of hundreds of ways.

More and more we find the medical profession exploring forms of spiritual exercises as antidotes to the poisonous effects of stress. Some of these spiritual approaches may themselves be dangerous, especially when they are derived from New Age tenets. Yet other spiritual approaches are not only safe but truly therapeutic, such as authentic prayer that is not an abstract uplifting of the mind to some Force or architectonic Energy but a prayer directed to a personal, loving God who is not to be feared but loved and trusted in total abandonment.

No religious movement or organization fulfills these ideal conditions better than Christianity. This is especially true when the Christian prayer is not limited to a mere petition for help, but is primarily a contemplative act of quiet worship, adoration, gratitude, and especially a trusting reliance on God as nonthreatening and merciful, supportive, compassionate, healing, and loving. There is no better exercise to counteract stress than learning to “relax in God’s arms” like a baby in the loving embrace of a nurturing mother or father. This is simply enjoying a prolonged divine hug. That is the simplest act of creature-Creator trust possible. It is not only the most therapeutic means of stress reduction, it is also the most grace-laden.

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and tapes can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.