Ear to the wall

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:27,34).

"Yesterday is like a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is like ready cash. Use it wisely, for today is the most precious possession you can have" (Anonymous). "Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained" (A.S. Roche). Some wag has said that worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it falls due.

There is a joke about the patient in the mental hospital who had his ear to the wall, listening intently. He beckoned the attendant to listen. The attendant pressed his ear against the wall and finally said, "I don't hear anything." "No," replied the patient, "it's been like that all day!" So it is with us at times. We cling to an invisible wall waiting for something drastic to happen and it never does. If we have high blood pressure, we just might worry ourselves into another world. Poor people worry because they never seem to have enough and certain rich people worry because they can't get enough. The man whose greed exceeded room to store his grain is an example of futile worry: "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops" (Luke 12:17). God took care of it for him: "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you" (Luke 12:20). His hours were up and his apprehension about his wealth useless.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). The cure for worry seems to be the attitude of gratitude which covers a multitude of vicissitudes!