February 2026

Whenever I tell someone that I work at a State Psychiatric Hospital, their eyes widen.  They likely imagine straight-jackets and padded rooms, or scenes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  I typically make a joke, or share a story aimed at normalizing my work.  I don’t want people to think I’m some sort of hero, and I don’t want to reinforce the stigma around serious mental illness.

What I don’t share in these casual conversations is that I had a panic attack during my first week as a chaplain intern.  I literally shook with fear at the prospect of walking onto a locked unit and trying to build relationships with strangers.  My social anxiety went into overdrive, convincing me I was too awkward and introverted to help anyone.  Somehow, despite this overwhelming fear, I took the first step and then the next.  I found support from supervisors and colleagues.  I found grace from the patients who recognized the fear all over my face.  Days became weeks, which became months and eventually years.  What started out as a terrifying prospect turned into a lifelong calling.

Many significant aspects of my life—working in chaplaincy, becoming a parent, writing a book—all required me to face my fears.  It was only by walking forward, rather than running away, that I recognized my own capabilities.  I’ve since learned that this is a well-known psychological principle.  The most effective treatment for fear, especially specific phobias, is what’s known as “exposure”.  It’s a process of purposefully encountering the thing you fear in incremental doses.  When done properly, with the guidance of a qualified professional, exposure therapy teaches your mind and body that it’s capable of surviving the feared situation.  The same basic principle applies to our everyday fears as well.  Fear tells us that our well-being is at risk; facing and surviving the feared situation teaches us not to be so afraid.  Like a child learning to ride a bike, the more we experience our ability to stay upright, the less we worry about falling off.

In spiritual terms, this capacity to face our fears is known as courage.  There’s a quote often attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt that says, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”  Our beliefs and values determine which fears are worth facing.  For me, the teachings of Jesus provide a moral compass in times of fear.  Stories of Jesus sitting with outcasts and healing the tormented kept me walking towards my career in mental health chaplaincy.  Earlier this month, I had the honor of preaching on some of Jesus’ most famous teachings, the Beatitudes.  Check out the recording below to hear how these blessings help us face our fears and live into our values.