HELLO!

I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God feeds them. And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, will God not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, What will we eat? or What will we drink? or What will we wear? But seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34

“Don’t worry, be happy” Bobby McFerrin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWXUWepSak4&t=8s

What do you worry about? I worry about whether there will be enough, I worry about if I have properly planned for the day, if I will accomplish everything I have set out to do. I worry about those around me, how are they feeling, do they have enough? I worry about people in far away places I do not know, like Palestinians in Gaza, Ukrainians, people in the Sudan. I worry about their safety, do they have enough? I worry about Creation, though now that gas prices are high, it appears few people care much about Creation. I worry about the poor in our area, who come to our foodbank. I worry about the persons who live in encampments.

I worry. And I act. I volunteer, I give money, and I work for justice. When I offer the only skill that I possess, public speaking, I include words about compassion for those who are not our specific kin, people we don’t know by name. Our bias is triggered by those whose names we can recite. Our bias is triggered by people with the same priorities as ours. For me, acting on the worry is a very helpful and mitigating way to keep my soul intact, to feel connected. I both envy people who don’t worry and resent them when the worry comes to a head, and there is no plan to deal with it. Because I am a worrier I have back-up Plans A, B, C and D. And I am mocked, I am scolded, “Ye of little faith” and branded, “glass half empty”. Guilty as charged! But when my worry ends up becoming reality and those who have mocked my handwringing and Plans A-D are suddenly in crisis mode, I typically find myself in leadership, work on the challenge, until a solution can be found. And then will come, “I told you so.” My wife Kim reminds me, “this is your least attractive quality.”

When I read Matthew 6, I do not absorb these words as “glass half full” or “positive thinking” mantras. God gave me a mind, God asks of us to do things for others, for ourselves. But God also reminds me there is more to our situation than meets the eye. Part of caring for my soul, other souls, is knowing we need less than we think we do. While “glass half full” people roll their eyes at my worry, I roll my eyes at their confidence and expectation that all the things the world tells them they need to be happy, will be given, should be given. That sometimes sounds like entitlement to me. And this in no way is an excuse for those with more than enough to tell those without shelter or food, “don’t worry, be happy.” Everyone needs the basics, and in a country as wealthy as ours it is a sin there are so many without the basics, the necessities of life.

“Seek the kin-dom of God and these things will be given to you as well.” Peace, Kevin

PS If you are not receiving my daily blogs, and I have written this before, one way to confirm I am still writing these is…to go to the church website and click on Rev Kevin’s Blogs, where you will see the current blog, always up to date. Write to me and let me know and I will make sure to send it to you. I have not missed one blog since March 2020, not one. So if you are not receiving these please check your spam file, it may be there.