This Becoming Gift Segment explores the experience of fear and how faith can help the believer overcome it. Andrew highlights that fear is a deeply ingrained humanity, tracing its theological origins back to Adam and Eve's first experience of fear after their sin. He explains how our body's nervous system is designed to keep us safe and promote survival, but how we can lead our nervous system by making choices.
Key Takeaways:
The Autonomic Nervous System: Our autonomic nervous system has two main sides: the sympathetic ("gas") side, which speeds things up for fight or flight, and the parasympathetic ("brakes") side, which slows things down. When the sympathetic system is activated when the body detects something potentially unsafe, it increases heart rate and breathing, adjusts inner ear bones and dilates pupils to prime the body to notice potential threats.
Fear & Choice: The catechism recognizes that fear can diminish or even nullify our responsibility for sin by affecting our ability to make good choices (CCC 1735). However, once we become aware of our fear response, we gain significant influence over it. It is within our control because we can choose what we perceive – what we focus our eyes on, and what our imagination and memory dwell upon, and our nervous system will respond to what we place our attention on.
Practical Tools for Modulating the Nervous System: We can modulate our nervous system through conscious choices. One powerful tool is breath control: breathing in activates the sympathetic system, while breathing out activates the parasympathetic system. By slowing down the exhale, we provide more input to the "slow down" or "rest" side of our nervous system. Similarly, directing our attention away from anxiety-inducing things towards calming elements, such as nature or comforting memories, can shift our state and slow down our heart rate.
The Power of Story: "Story follows state" meaning our brain often creates stories to make sense of how we feel. The good news is that we can choose to tell ourselves different stories. The gift of faith helps us believe a different, more hopeful story, leading to peace, hope, and trust. Faith, by keeping God in mind and trusting that He is in charge and loves us, can literally regulate our nervous system. A practical "toolbox" for managing fear includes choosing where our attention goes (keeping eyes on Christ), minimizing exposure to anxiety-inducing things, breathing, praying, and meditating on good things like scriptures.
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