~ Corrie ten Boom*
I am slowly learning, as I
wander through the experience of living, that when worry rears its anxious
specter I must forcibly and deliberately push it away. It's so very easy for me
to conjure mind maps of fear that fill my head, travel through the rest of me,
and render me uselessly pacing or slumped in mindless paralysis.
There are many conditions in the world at large and in my own community that are cause for concern, even alarm, and call for immediate action or intervention. But worry enervates, creating problems rather than providing solutions. Worry is selfish and demanding of the attention of one's self and others to the exclusion of more important endeavors. When I get bogged down in my own head about my own stuff, I lose the momentum that should be put to better use. And while I'm getting better at it, I often need help to pull myself away from the edge of the sinkhole, and back into the present for the work at hand.
There are many conditions in the world at large and in my own community that are cause for concern, even alarm, and call for immediate action or intervention. But worry enervates, creating problems rather than providing solutions. Worry is selfish and demanding of the attention of one's self and others to the exclusion of more important endeavors. When I get bogged down in my own head about my own stuff, I lose the momentum that should be put to better use. And while I'm getting better at it, I often need help to pull myself away from the edge of the sinkhole, and back into the present for the work at hand.
SO, help me, Lord of Inner Strength,
Grant me
continuing improvement in my ability to set aside the borrowing of some
potential trouble, and lend myself to the beauty in the moment and in the ordinary of
life, and, more so the opportunities to be of service to others. And, if it's not too much to ask, a little pocket of
joy now and then will help keep me going forward. amen.
*Corrie ten Boom [1892-1982] was the author of many
books including her best known Hiding Places which told the
harrowing story of her family helping to house Jews escaping from the Nazis
during World War II. She and her family were subsequently imprisoned in
Ravensbruck, a Nazi death camp where several of her family died. Her work for
the mentally disabled before the war, and after she was released from prison, setting up refuge centers and shelters for death camp survivors and even for the
jobless Dutch who collaborated with the Germans, earned her international
recognition and accolades. She moved to California in 1977 where she died on
her 91st birthday.
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