I think prayerful meditation, being still in a space, being still with God, I don't do that enough. It's crazy, because when I do do it, I always walk away from it going, 'Why the hell am I not doing that more?'

When I had my first panic attack, I believed that it was a heart attack.

When they tell you that you have cancer, you panic.

I got this advice that if you know a panic attack is happening, just sit back and go, 'Okay, this is happening to me, but it'll be over. You'll be fine. You'll live.'

To many, Heathrow in August is a paradigm of Hell.

Christian spirituality, without an integration of emotional health, can be deadly—to yourself, your relationship with God, and the people around you.

Our churches are filled with "leaking" Christians who have not treated their emotions as a discipleship issue.

Watch for the internal signs that you are exceeding your limits, doing more for God than your abiding relationship with him can sustain (for example, lack of peace, irritability, rushing). Make it your first priority and goal to seek his face and to do his will each day.

Few killer viruses are more difficult to discern than this one. On the surface all appears to be healthy and working, but it's not. All those hours and hours spent lost in one Christian book after another . . . all those many Christian responsibilities outside the home or going from one seminar to another . . . all that extra time in prayer and Bible study. . . . At times we use these Christian activities as an unconscious attempt to escape from pain. In

the activity of my life ("doing" for Jesus) began to eclipse the contemplative dimension of my life ("being" with Jesus).

Allow yourself to experience the full weight of your feelings. Allow them without censoring them. Then you can reflect and thoughtfully decide what to do with them. Trust God to come to you through them. This is the first step in the hard work of discipleship.

In a culture as frenetic and inattentive as ours, a "slowed down" Christian who is a contemplative presence to God and others is an extraordinary gift.