Fret not thyself because of the ungodly (Ps. 37.1). Is this rather a negative charge to give you on the eve of your ordination: “Don’t fret”? No, the Christian gospel is largely concerned with the issue of fretting and not fretting. We live in a fretting world, and the gospel can be paraphrased, “Fret not, only believe.” More particularly, the people to whom you minister will be full of frettings, and you will be leading them from frettings into Christian peace. But as you do this the spirit of fretting will press persistently against your own defenses. You may fret through your Christian sympathy with people’s griefs. You may fret about troubles and frustrations in the church, where there is a good deal of “loss of nerve.” You may fret about your own failures and disappointments. And your own fretting may weaken your witness to the joy of the gospel. Therefore it is right for me to charge you, “Fret not.”

An Anglican bishop advises apprehensive ordinands where to put their trust.