📝 How to Manage Anxiety When Politics Feels Dangerous
What Marcus Aurelius, Scripture, and spiritual stillness teach us about holding peace when the world is burning.
Editor’s Note: I wasn’t planning to post again today. But after watching another reckless bill pass — one that threatens the well-being of millions — I felt compelled to speak. Not from a place of panic, but from a place of purpose. Because the world may shake, but we don’t have to.
There’s a specific kind of anxiety that rises not from personal failure, but from the deep injustice unfolding around us. When lawmakers pass bills that harm the vulnerable — stripping away healthcare, silencing history, or turning basic rights into bargaining chips — the fear isn’t imagined. It’s real. And yet, as Marcus Aurelius teaches, our peace still lives within us. That doesn’t mean we ignore what’s happening — it means we meet it with clarity, not chaos.
“Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.13
🔥 Core Reflection
The Stoics never promised that life would be fair — only that we could face unfairness with integrity. What’s happening in America right now isn’t virtuous. Policies are being passed that punish the poor, marginalize women and minorities, and normalize cruelty as politics. That should disturb us. But it should not destroy us.
Marcus reminds us: anxiety is a response, not a fact. And if we can return to the seat of our perception — prayerfully, mindfully — we can act from strength, not panic. We can resist without unraveling. We can still show up for justice with our minds intact and our hearts protected.
📖 Spiritual Wisdom
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 4:6–7
This is not a call to spiritual bypassing. It’s a call to spiritual discipline. We don’t numb ourselves to injustice — we rise above its spiritual toll by anchoring ourselves in something eternal.
🧒🏾 When the Vulnerable Are Targeted
When harmful legislation threatens children’s access to education, healthcare, or safety and school lunches — or strips essential support from the poor and working class — it’s not “just politics.” It’s a moral crisis. And Scripture is clear:
“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” — Isaiah 1:17
And Christ himself warns us with sobering clarity:
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me… If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around their neck.” — Mark 9:37, 42
🛑 This is not about partisanship. It’s about righteousness, decency and a heart. And as women of wisdom, we must protect our peace and our people. One does not cancel out the other.
✊🏾 Call to Women of Wisdom
To the women reading this who feel weary, furious, or afraid — you’re not alone. But you are equipped. Your inner peace is not weak. It lets you stay focused when the world spins. It lets you speak up without crumbling. It lets you lead, even when the world tries to silence you.
What the Stoics knew — and what our faith confirms — is that calm is not surrender. It’s our power. And in these perilous times, that kind of inner power is not just personal. It’s political.
Because when we refuse to be emotionally hijacked by cruelty, we protect our capacity to respond — not just react. We stay present enough to vote with conviction, to organize with love, to speak with clarity, and to care for those around us without burning out.
This is how we endure without becoming numb. How we resist without losing our joy. How we build legacies in the midst of chaos.
🧘🏾♀️ Stillness is not apathy. It is action — aligned with wisdom.
And for every Black woman, mother, thinker, leader, and believer reading this: your calm is not weakness. It is the beginning of strength.
📚More Resources from Stoic Sisterhood
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