During summer while many young people might have taken up courses in different disciplines which need training, such as swimming, driving, computers, painting, cooking and so on, some others must have spent sufficient amount of time worrying about their results, college admissions, jobs, how to make more money or, even, mend relationships.
Worrying about the future and being anxious about a situation that one can do little about or indeed regretting something that went wrong is often a pastime for many, including the older, mature ones amongst us. Interestingly, worrying is the one art that requires no training or trainer whatsoever.
Worry is nothing but a state of insecurity or fear that may sometimes be real, but is often about imaginary future events. Despite having heard “today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday” hundreds of times, most of us just cannot stop worrying. No wonder then that “worry” and “anxiety”, which put huge stress on our psyche, are the main culprits for many of our modern day illnesses. These often lead to deep depression which is invariably followed by pricey sessions of endless counselling.
It is to people such as these, those who rather easily slip into the tendency of “worrying”, that Jesus exhorted:
“Therefore I say to you, ‘do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble’” (Math 6:26-34).
While Jesus gives examples from nature to stop us from worrying, the great apostle Paul asks believers to find help in prayer. He says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand… Fix your thoughts on what is true and honourable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:6-8). Similarly, the Psalmist in the Bible says, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you…” (Psalm 55:22).
One other thing that can help us get over our worries is what the Zen masters have been telling us for ages: “This too will pass”. This is based on the irrefutable reality that nothing in this world is permanent. In other words, the thing you are worrying about wasn’t there sometime ago, it is here now but soon there will come a time when it will have no choice but to disappear.
For those who are more pragmatic and understand the language of modern gadgets like mobile phones and may be less inclined to prayer and meditation, Edith Armstrong’s recommendation may come handy, “I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then, whenever doubt, anxiety or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal — and soon they’ll forget my number”.
— Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, is currently the director of communication of the Delhi Catholic Church. He
was awarded the National Communal Harmony Award 2008 by the Government of India.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/father-dominic-emmanuel-614
