April 26, 2026

We all have commitments and responsibilities, jobs, hobbies, family, friends, service clubs, and other community involvement. These things enrich our lives, provide us with a social framework and allow us to feel meaningful. Under normal circumstances we are quite capable of dealing with the different things that demand our time and attention. Sometimes however we find that the demands we are asked to meet become more than we are able to manage. There are a number of reasons for this including illness, uncontrollable circumstances, unreasonable demands, difficult people, and many others.

If you are familiar with the story of Milo of Croton you know in the story Milo trained by carrying a bull a certain distance every day. As the bull grows Milo gains strength and is eventually able to carry a fully grown bull. Sounds reasonable right but when people train to get stronger they discover that it doesn’t exactly work this way. The human body doesn’t have the capacity to progressively do more and more like in the story. In reality you have to use different strategies, maybe work up to a peak and then come back down and work up again. We need to provide the opportunity to rest, recover and rebuild stronger than before. If rest is that critical to your physical health and development, what do you think about your mental health? As life circumstances change we may find more and more to deal with managing takes a certain amount of mental resilience. In the progression toward mental resilience it’s not a workable strategy to just add more and more every day. So what can we do?

Be realistic about your ability: people have different capacities for stress. Not all people have the genetics to be an Olympic Athlete, in the same way we all handle stress and mental fatigue differently. Some are almost unflappable while others are more reactive. We all want to get better at keeping our heads above water and we can. We may not all become Michael Phelps but we can all become better swimmers. Based on this we need to know ourselves and know the signs that we are getting to a place that is less than ideal.

The Bible offers some encouragement:

• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God
• Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved
• Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light

We owe it to God, ourselves and our families to stay physically and mentally healthy because we want to continue to be effective in life and in service. Start small, I recall a physiotherapist commenting that he was seeing a lot of extra stress (physical stress) injuries during the quarantine. Everyone had decided to take up running and people would go from little or no activity to trying to run 5K. Instead, they should have started slow with manageable distances. The same is true for our stress level. You or I may have the capacity to work as an air traffic controller (one of the highest prolonged stress occupations) but we need to start slow and build up to it.

~ Kevin Cleary

April 19, 2026

When we are faced with a dangerous situation our brains and bodies do a few specific things.

Physiological Reactions: Auditory exclusion, Perceptual narrowing, Time distortion, Awareness lapse, Loss of fine motor skills, Hyper‐vigilance persisting after event

Cognitive Reactions: Memory loss, weakened concentration and  judgement, Confusion, Racing thoughts, Sense of being overwhelmed, Problem solving skills decrease, 

Understanding what your body will do is very helpful when facing stress or fear. We sometimes forget that there are more kinds of fear than just the fear of immediate danger. We also experience fear of a situation or potential problem. Maybe you have experienced fear of taking a test or fear of being in a certain situation. Just as facing immediate danger causes mental and physical responses that limit our ability to perform long term anticipatory fear does a similar thing. 

Fear is an important emotion that can make us aware of danger. The problem comes if we let fear dominate our decision making. We can get ourselves in a lot of trouble if we are not able to find ways of taking time to clear our heads and think calmly and carefully about the things we are afraid of before making a decision.

Here are some strategies that may help:

1. Know yourself and you limits, learn to say I am not thinking clearly now and walk away from a situation or problem. James warns us we should be slow to speak and slow to anger (Jms 1:19-20)
2. Get some help, talk with someone you trust to be a good listener and to be objective. Often just the act of talking out what is in our heads will do the trick. The wise man said Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Eccl 4:12)
3. Know the facts, human imagination is notoriously unreliable and will often inflate a situation that is not such a big deal when examined in light of accurate data. Test all things hold fast to that which is good (I Thess 5:22)
4. Prayer and scripture reading Ps 1:2
5. Relaxation techniques like tactical breathing or progressive muscle relaxation will be useful to many people (check the links for full descriptions of these techniques).
6. Writing down what is bothering you, this allows you to state it clearly and ties into two of the points above getting facts and talking things out. Remember all truth is God’s truth and must be the driving force behind our believes and behaviours. (Jn 17:17)
7. Planning to deal with the things that is bothering you helps you to feel some sense of control and can give you the confidence that you can handle whatever it is your worried about.

~ Kevin Cleary

April 12, 2026

   I have a younger cousin who works as an engineer. While in school he learned lots of physics. One of the things he learned a lot about is the mechanics of air flow. When he got into the working world he didn’t take a job which directly dealt with air flow mechanics instead he works designing pumps. I once asked him “How did you end up doing that?” He pointed out that although he had little training in fluid dynamics but water moves in almost the exact same way that air does. He later took this same knowledge of the way water moves and combined it with his love of fishing to create a lure. All of this makes a great illustration of wisdom verses knowledge. 

     Knowledge you can get out of a book. Wisdom however is the ability to take what you have found in the book and apply it in new and different ways. Everyone who’s been in school knows how to study for a test verses how to study and learn the material. 

     When we study the Bible this discussion become paramount; The Bible contains everything we need for “life and godliness” such that we can be fully equipped for living the Christian life (2Pet 1:3; 2Tim 3:17). Some have considered these statements and thought: but wait the Bible does not mention telephone fraud, or road rage. The right response to this is the Bible gives us all the knowledge we need to deal with any situation but God expects us to have the wisdom to apply it (Heb 5:14). 

     When we study the Bible then, it is not to memorize material for a test. It is to learn and embrace knowledge that can be applied to real life. It’s to become so familiar with that subject of scripture “the Christ” that we become like him. This is wisdom, to take what we read in scripture and let it change us into his image.

~ Kevin Cleary

April 5, 2026

What does it mean to be born again or born from above and why would Jesus tell Nicodemus he needed to do it? Did anyone ever tell you, you needed to be born again? What did they mean? Was it something different than Nicodemus? Take a minute and read Jn 3:1-8. 

• Jn 3:3 I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God
• Jn 3:7 Do no marvel that I said to you, you must be born again

In the context Jesus says this to Nicodemus in response to his implied question about Jesus identity. It is likely that he is telling Nicodemus that he should have gone to be baptized by John. Why does he choose this phrase what would Nicodemus have understood? It is equated in verse 5 with being born of water and spirit which is also said to be a prerequisite for entering the kingdom. It is contrasted with being born of flesh rather than born of the spirit. It is also equated with being born of the spirit. 

Bart Erman who I rarely agree with comments: Why this language in this particular conversation. Context is everything. Jesus’ definitive statement about being born from above is given to this “Leader of the Jews” who believes that his relationship with God is guaranteed by his birth. He has the blood of Abraham in his veins, he must be part of the Kingdom. Jesus assures him that his fleshly birth has produced nothing but flesh and that more is required, a birth in the Spirit. https://www.frbart.com/the-joy-of-the-gospel/jesus-said-you-must-be-born-again-oh-really

I Pet 1:3 according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In this case the same phrase is used but Peter can’t be talking about Johns baptism because that time is long past. 

I Pet 1:23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed bur of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. Peter further points out that we are born again by the living and abiding word of God. How does the word of God do this? 

Being in relationship with God means being a part of his family or household. Our physical birth doesn’t achieve this. Rather we must be born again. There are many implications to this idea. I would challenge each person reading this to make a list of what those implications are and how they impact your life. 

~ Kevin Cleary

March 29, 2026

We live in a constantly connected world. A world where no questions go unanswered and no information goes unshared. There are many benefits to this. That said there is a danger that comes with instant access to the world through a screen.

1. Not all of the information being shared it true.

2. Even some information that is true is not helpful.

3. We can perpetuate our own bad habits and ideas by focusing on unhelpful things and or allowing an algorithm to manipulate us into focusing on them.

4. The lack of face-to-face contact can make us more likely to say things that we wouldn’t say in person.

5. We can perpetuate an unhealthy obsession with 24hr news where many things that don’t deserve attention get it just because there is nothing else going on.

Let me share a couple of simple but helpful principals from scripture.

I Thess 5:21 Test everything hold fast to what is good

I Cor 10:23 All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with friends, share encouraging stories or jokes, have some fun in a little debate or check in on that person you met that one time.

It can also be a way to disseminate misinformation even unhelpful information. It can cause those who struggle with stress or anxiety to be bombarded with more worries and concerns than they can bear. It can cause frustration and even aggression. Use social media to keep in touch, catch up, share encouragement, check in on people who may need help, have a group devotional or many other great things.

Make sure you are taking a break, getting enough exercise (that’s probably more than you usually get), eating healthy meals, spending time with family, working on home projects. It may surprise you to know that none of these things require an internet connection.

~ Kevin Cleary