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| Somewhere in Ohio |
I
come from a long line of worriers that stretches back to Adam. My mother,
wonderful person that she was, suffered from excessive worrying. I think my
father worried, but it was hard to tell since he was, generally,
non-expressive. Our roots are in Finland, and Finnish men tend not to show
emotion.
“Worry”
is part of our fallen, subhuman condition. "Worry" is endemic to
humanity, in general. I come from a long, wide path of worriers trailing back
to Old Testament times. Fallen humanity broods, negatively.
Worry
is not helpful. Brooding on darkness brings on more darkness. Worry says,
“Something bad is happening. You cannot stop it. Do worry, be unhappy.”
Worry
is passive, like waiting for the tornado that never comes. This adds
nothing of value to life. Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to his life?”[1]
Worry
is non-additive. Worry is not neutral. Worry subtracts, knocking minutes off
life.
Worry
is absurd. This is because worry’s concerns are things that cannot be
controlled. Like people. I can’t control others. I can love and serve them, but
love and service will not inexorably come back to me. Sometimes it does,
sometimes it doesn’t. When it comes to others, worry is a non-player.
I
control none of this. Most of what happens to me in life is not in my control. This
being the case, one thing that will not comfort me is worry. To ruminate on
negative possibilities is absurd because it effects nothing. Except to subtract
from me. Worry is a thief. Worry steals joy, peace, and hope from my heart.
Worry
is a bad thinker. Worry needs to take a logic course. Anyone who has
responsibilities exhibits care. Caring is good. Worry is caring gone berserk,
which is bad for my soul. At this point caring mutates into worry. Caring packs
its bag of burdens and hauls it south to the land of anxiety.
The
antidote to worry is trust. The more I trust, the less I worry. The question
then becomes: In whom, or in what, shall I place my trust? Trust must be
rightly placed. Trusting in just anything will not do the job.
Proverbs
3:5-6 says, famously: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not rely on
your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your
paths straight.”
Worry
is a crooked path that leads back to itself. But as I trust in God, my
convoluted mental highways are made straight.
