My rector was a military man for over 30 years. He’s told us many times that two principles for effective leadership were drilled into him above all others:

1. Lead from the front; &
2. Give a damn.

The second principle is the hardest because it requires prioritization. 1/

One can’t care about everything equally. There’s simply not enough mental and moral energy to go around. And one shouldn’t care about all things equally.

Part of the reason that so many are on a diet of Rolaids and Pepcid is because they care too much about the wrong things. 2/

This is one reason I stopped watching the news well over a year ago. Most of what made the veins on my forehead beat like a kettle drum consisted of things I couldn’t change and shouldn’t even be worrying over. 3/

Instead, I decided to focus on my interior life and my church and family. I think all three are better for it.

St. Paul tells us to concern ourselves with cultivating personal virtue as an antidote to anxiety (Phil. 4:6-8). 4/

To think on such things is hard work. It requires guarding ourselves against the transitory and ephemeral distractions that do nothing but distract us and destroy our peace. Ultimately, to care rightly, we can’t care about most things. 5/