A Pastoral Theological Approach to the New Anxiety

Noting that we live in anxious times, and that the question is not whether but to what extent are the persons with whom pastoral and spiritual caregivers work today are experiencing anxiety, the paper claims that a basic understanding of the nature of anxiety is required in order to practice pastoral care effectively. To this end, it focuses on the role an uncertain future plays in the development of anxiety; on the importance of determining whether the person with whom one is working has a degree of anxiety that is out of proportion to the threat that he or she is under; and on the fact that although anxiety is endemic to the modern condition, it is also the case that a more acute form of anxiety is a primary feature of the super-modern condition. This "new anxiety" is complex and multifaceted, but a fundamental feature of this new anxiety is that it has less to do with the loss and more to do with an excess of meaning. Resources from the Judeo-Christian tradition include the teachings of Jesus on anxiety and the importance it places on hope experientially grounded in the living presence of a loving God.