Really, Jesus? Don't worry? Really?

I don't know how you are feeling these days, but I feel a lot of anxiety right now and find myself worrying about all kinds of things.  When there is a killer virus on the loose, people are losing their jobs, the stock market is going nuts, kids are out of school and nothing is normal, I think anxiety and worry is pretty understandable.  Yet, it sure doesn't accomplish very much and it can do a lot of harm to our relationships and our souls.  Don't get me wrong, I think fear is appropriate during these times, and healthy fear can lead us to take appropriate responses, such as social distancing and wearing masks, moving our investments to less risky ones, saving money instead of spending it on the usual everyday luxuries like Starbucks and drive through fast food, educating ourselves about different types of employment and ways to keep kids learning at home.  Yet, once you've taken what steps you can, then what?  Stewing in my own juices usually seems like my go to response, but I recognize ruminating about things I have no control over results in nothing good.

I found myself thinking about Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 regarding worry.  His words always trike me as unrealistic at first blush, but the more I realize how little control I have over the things I worry about, the more I feel like Jesus may have known what he was talking about.

“Therefore 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 your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And 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, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he 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?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 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."

Really, Jesus?  I shouldn't worry about a loved one catching a deadly virus?  I shouldn't worry about how I'm going to pay the bills while I'm out of work?  I shouldn't worry about my investments when I'm retired and on a fixed income?  Really?

I suspect Jesus might ask us to consider his words: "can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?"  I don't think Jesus is saying we shouldn't do our best to prepare for life's troubles, but rather when we have done what is in our power to do and then start to worry about what is not in our control we cross a line into an unhealthy place.  When we worry about what is not in our control (which is a lot more than most of us want to admit), not only are we unable to "add a single hour" to our lives, but we may make our lives shorter due to the toll stress and anxiety takes on our bodies.  More importantly, we are distracted by focusing on what might happen, and we are not fully present for what is happening right now.  We rob ourselves and others we love of actually experiencing life together in the here and now.

After the quarantine began, I began to wake up to a strange sound in the morning--bird song!  I'm used to waking up to traffic noise humming in the background, but in these weeks I hear the birds loud and clear.  I'm more of a fan of nature than an avid naturalist.  Hiking, cycling, camping and so on seem like great things for other people to do.  (This explains my pasty skin tone.  The only tan I get is given off by the light from my phone.)  Yet, even I have been forced to notice the natural world around me in a new way as I function at a different pace of life.  I find Jesus' words, "Look at the birds of the air," have special meaning, and it makes me realize I benefit when I stop and notice the beauty of the world around me without a screen mediating it to me.

Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale, began teaching a class on happiness which quickly became the most popular course at the university.  She now has a podcast called "The Happiness Lab" and an on-line course called "The Science of Well-Being" that has attracted millions.  (It's almost as if people are struggling to be happy these days!)  In a recent Washington Post interview, Santos spoke about the so-called "Three Blessings" exercise:

"This idea is so critical right now when we can easily get in the mode of, 'woe is me, everything is terrible.' Research shows that we really can benefit from counting our blessings even when it feels like there aren’t that many blessings to be counted. The simple act of scribbling down three things you’re grateful for can significantly bump your mood, in some studies as quickly as within a couple of weeks. It’s completely free. It takes five to 10 minutes a day. At the end of your day, just scribble down a few things that you’re grateful for right now."

Scientific research studies have literally shown the simple act of writing down a few blessings each day not only benefits our mood but can even change our brain activity.  As we develop habits of being conscious of the blessings in our lives, our brains begin to exponentially do more and more of the same--we become more positive in our outlook and more able to help others.  (The opposite is also true.)  It's almost like we were created with the capacity to focus on our blessings as a means of becoming more healthy people.  

Modern science is telling us what people of faith have claimed to know for millennia.  Counting our blessings is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and others, not to mention giving praise to God for our blessings is an appropriate response to our Creator.  I grew up singing the old Gospel hymn:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I'm sure I long ago dismissed the words of this hymn as trite and unrealistic compared to the world's problems, but the older I get the more I hear that folksy refrain pointing me back to Jesus' words in Matthew 6.  Neither Jesus nor the hymn writer nor Laura Santos at Yale overlook the troubles of this world and the pain we face in our lives.  They simply point out that worrying about what we cannot control and focusing upon what we do not have rather than on what we do have causes our suffering to be worse.  

So, whatever your struggle during these days of "stay at home" orders and quarantine, I invite you to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields.  Take time to count your blessings--even counting only three a day can literally change your brain!

Grace and Peace,

Chase