Dear Friends
We sometimes hear people talking about someone who is worrying himself or herself into an early grave, or about someone who has already done so! Worry is certainly something that is hazardous to health, and psychologists will tell us that their consulting rooms are full of people who are burdened with worry.
Seasonal ‘depression’ is something that we can cope with and it is easily shrugged off. Have sympathy for those who
suffer from Depression with a capital ‘D’ and who cannot just shrug it off! Worry, however, is a bit more subtle and can lurk in the darkest corners of our mind, even when we are feeling that the world is being nice to us.
As children we worry about silly things like shadows in the bedroom and ogres that may live under the bed, but as adults, our thoughts may be just as irrational. We can be tempted to worry about things that are yet to come and, most of the time, never will come. We can easily create our own ogres; some of them can be more horrific than any childhood fantasy.
St Paul exhorts us not to worry, as does Jesus, and scripture is very plain in its condemnation of those who will worry: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will look after itself.”
On my pinboard in the Rectory Office I have a little card that has written on it: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. These words have helped me (and many folk) to keep “everything in perspective”.
Loosely translated it says: “There are two days in every week about which we should NOT worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is yesterday (with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains). Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. Yesterday is gone. The other day we should NOT worry about is tomorrow (with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance). Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow’s sun will rise, but until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, because it is yet unborn.
This leaves only one day – today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when we add the burdens of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that a temptation to despair can arise.
So, feel good about yourself and your life TODAY. It is the only day in 2025 that we have, and there is NO need to worry about it, because it’s already here.
Drew
