Chronic Stress is a Stumbling Block
We need the stress of the worst experiences in order to be grateful
for better ones, since everything that seems most hateful
can either be a stumbling -block that causes us to fall,
or stepping-stone to something better, if we are prepared to crawl.
When stress has generated loads some label allostatic,
brains may deteriorate; causing conduct to become erratic,
stress blocking normal pathways that we need to think, and not to stumble,…
distressing stumbling block that causes falls in folk who are not humble.
The solution to this problem told in Micah 6:8 is humility,
which enables those who’re stressed to walk with great agility,
and, by kindling kindness to all people with whom our lives interact, is —
far more than spiritual belief — the core of kosher physically-correct practice.
Micah 6:8 states:
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what GOD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk modestly with your God.
Describing the burden of continuing stress, Bruce McEwen coined the term “allostatic load” (derived from allostasis, the process by which the body seeks to regain stability, or homeostasis, in response to stressors).
In “How to Replace Christian Nationalism,” NYT, 11/13/25, David Brooks writes:
“Every once in a while I come across a passage in a book that hits me with the force of revelation. Here’s one: ‘A person’s way of being human is the most authentic expression of their belief or unbelief. A person’s life speaks more about their faith than what they think or say about God.’”
That passage is from Tomas Halik’s book “The Afternoon of Christianity.” Halik is a Czech sociologist, priest and philosopher. When the Czech Republic was Communist, he served in the underground church; after 1989, he was a close friend and adviser to Vaclav Havel and an admirer of Pope Francis. I like the passage because Halik is cutting through the categories we commonly use to define people……
Tomas Halik’s statement in the first paragraph, “A person’s life speaks more about their faith than what they think or say about God,” is affirmed in Lev. 18:5:
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי֙ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם הָאָדָ֖ם וָחַ֣י בָּהֶ֑ם
And you shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which human beings shall live.
This verse may be read as a confirmation of Hallik’s statement that the lives that people lead speak more about their faith than what they think or say about it.