Don’t worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is just as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing gum. The real problems in your life tend to be things that have never crossed your mind, the kind that surprise you at 4pm on an idle Tuesday afternoon.
~Everyone is free to use sunscreen (Baz Luhrmann’s Song).
Many people will not listen to Biblical wisdom and it is their loss, but God knows that living wisdom is so important that He sprinkles it everywhere. This is a fountain of God’s wisdom: in this humble song that did well in the late 1990s.
Be suprised
It is better that we never underestimate life’s capacity to surprise us, and not always for the better. We only need to be surprised once in a cataclysmic way and we always seem to distrust the power of life to grab us by the shortest hairs on our bodies and make us see reason.
Being caught off guard and the chances of being caught off guard aren’t really about living in fear; no problem.
It’s mostly just being aware that these things happen, and it seems indiscriminately. Being awake and compassionate to those who have been beaten and battered in life is a great thing, a true blessing.
There is no lack of suffering in this dying world.
Worry – confused madness
Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34 regarding worry and its folly are as resonant today as ever, but we can only lead that stubborn horse to water, we can’t force it to drink (and stop worrying). Only the horse can do that by itself!
The logic of worry tends to make sense to us because, well, we can.
However, the fact that we are capable of doing something does not mean that it will lead us to the destination we seek. Worriers are generally quite aimless. They have lost focus.
Focus is the great mender of the old affliction of worry, and focus is a discipline.
Abiding in Eternal Reality – Addressing These Two Above
Reality is the best place. It is ironically safer. Though he occasionally shocks us with his horrible, all-too-real lucidity, he also reveals himself as a real friend. But, we only know this when we venture into the unconditional experience of it: taking what comes, whatever happens.
Focus is the friend of reality. Stay in the moment and do not run into the past or the future, for comfort or as a result of some other fear.
As we sip our drink from the bar at some holiday destination in the sun, sipping it reflexively, we do well to remember the moment, treasuring it for what it truly is.
© 2010 SJ Wickham.