I've been mulling... meditating... ruminating on "Be still, and know that I am God" Ps 46:10 and "Don't worry about tomorrow" Matt 6:34 for the past several days. Interestingly enough, given my unemployed predicament at the moment, these two passages come into my thoughts quite often.
Perhaps it's my anxiety about where my next dollar might come from to pay a bill, or something to eat, or gas in the car to look for a job. These are real anxieties for those who are wondering how they're to provide for themselves. Yet the truth is, can any of this worry make it better? Not really. Furthermore, the words saying, "look at the birds, they don't plant or harvest anything, yet they somehow survive. And it doesn't do any good to worry about tomorrow either because you can't do anything about that as well.
Yet, we worry about most everything in our lives. I think most of this comes from the idea as Americans we can have it all, it can be the biggest and the best, and not only can you have it all, but you can have it all now. Our understanding of life in my view is very skewed and for the most part not attainable. Yet, we have this notion we can do anything we set our minds to. We are afforded this as Americans, but at what price? Before you think I'm against being, or becoming a 1%er, or that we as Americans should some how shirk opportunities... NO!! What I'm suggesting is that much of our worry and anxiety comes from too much consumption and the thinking that we can have anything we desire. For the most part, when we acquire, we don't want to let go... thus feeding the anxiety and worry about how I'm going to live the next day.
However, we still find ourselves worrying about the next day and how we are going to make it through that day. For me, I really don't like hearing this... I want to know how I'm going to make it through tomorrow the week before tomorrow even comes. What I find interesting is that within the context of "Don't Worry" it says, "only people who don't know God always worry." I don't believe this is true. Whether or not you believe in God people of all stripes worry. You don't have to be a believer to have troubles with worry, and just because you believe in God doesn't mean you will not be an worrier either.
Perhaps as a person of faith, my anxiety level isn't as high as it might other-wise be... but maybe not either. I... like others, I have a nice home that I want to keep. I want to eat healthy foods. I want to have nice fashionable cloths. People of faith are not all that different in reality that those who are not people of faith. We are all worriers and maybe as Americans we worry more than others.
For me... my worry dissipates when I still myself. When, be still and know that I am God finds its way into my being, my anxiety... my worry is often less. It's not totally gone, but seems to be more manageable. Perhaps, this is what Martin Luther experienced when he wrote the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" because the "Be Still" passage of Psalm 46 is the context for the hymn. Perhaps, Luther, who was a person full of anxieties, discovered as I'm discovering that being still with God is a calming life factor helping me to keep perspective.
Being Still with God seems simple enough, but like most of us, we are often to preoccupied with other things. Being Still means being still... coming to a stop... letting yourself do nothing. It means to focus on God. The great mystics found ways to do this. Being Still with God takes practice and patients, and I'm discovering, it seems to be working. While I am worried about what is going to happen, I seem to be less anxious about what might happen. I find this amazing because in 6-8 weeks we will be out of money and no income. So... I am REALLY trying to Not Worry and to Be Still with God.
Time will tell... I do have an opportunity for work in the next couple of weeks, and so... maybe "Don't Worry" and "Be Still" does work. Perhaps, it's also having a little faith.
See You Out on the Road
Perhaps it's my anxiety about where my next dollar might come from to pay a bill, or something to eat, or gas in the car to look for a job. These are real anxieties for those who are wondering how they're to provide for themselves. Yet the truth is, can any of this worry make it better? Not really. Furthermore, the words saying, "look at the birds, they don't plant or harvest anything, yet they somehow survive. And it doesn't do any good to worry about tomorrow either because you can't do anything about that as well.
Yet, we worry about most everything in our lives. I think most of this comes from the idea as Americans we can have it all, it can be the biggest and the best, and not only can you have it all, but you can have it all now. Our understanding of life in my view is very skewed and for the most part not attainable. Yet, we have this notion we can do anything we set our minds to. We are afforded this as Americans, but at what price? Before you think I'm against being, or becoming a 1%er, or that we as Americans should some how shirk opportunities... NO!! What I'm suggesting is that much of our worry and anxiety comes from too much consumption and the thinking that we can have anything we desire. For the most part, when we acquire, we don't want to let go... thus feeding the anxiety and worry about how I'm going to live the next day.
However, we still find ourselves worrying about the next day and how we are going to make it through that day. For me, I really don't like hearing this... I want to know how I'm going to make it through tomorrow the week before tomorrow even comes. What I find interesting is that within the context of "Don't Worry" it says, "only people who don't know God always worry." I don't believe this is true. Whether or not you believe in God people of all stripes worry. You don't have to be a believer to have troubles with worry, and just because you believe in God doesn't mean you will not be an worrier either.
Perhaps as a person of faith, my anxiety level isn't as high as it might other-wise be... but maybe not either. I... like others, I have a nice home that I want to keep. I want to eat healthy foods. I want to have nice fashionable cloths. People of faith are not all that different in reality that those who are not people of faith. We are all worriers and maybe as Americans we worry more than others.
For me... my worry dissipates when I still myself. When, be still and know that I am God finds its way into my being, my anxiety... my worry is often less. It's not totally gone, but seems to be more manageable. Perhaps, this is what Martin Luther experienced when he wrote the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" because the "Be Still" passage of Psalm 46 is the context for the hymn. Perhaps, Luther, who was a person full of anxieties, discovered as I'm discovering that being still with God is a calming life factor helping me to keep perspective.
Being Still with God seems simple enough, but like most of us, we are often to preoccupied with other things. Being Still means being still... coming to a stop... letting yourself do nothing. It means to focus on God. The great mystics found ways to do this. Being Still with God takes practice and patients, and I'm discovering, it seems to be working. While I am worried about what is going to happen, I seem to be less anxious about what might happen. I find this amazing because in 6-8 weeks we will be out of money and no income. So... I am REALLY trying to Not Worry and to Be Still with God.
Time will tell... I do have an opportunity for work in the next couple of weeks, and so... maybe "Don't Worry" and "Be Still" does work. Perhaps, it's also having a little faith.
See You Out on the Road
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