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WORRY ... and why it is worse than Useless
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” (St. Matthew 6.34)
Imagine a man who had lived the better part of his life worrying about many things, living in great apprehension and anxiety and seldom allowing himself to relax, to breathe freely, to enjoy the many good things around him – afraid even to lift his head confidently, since worrying weighs him down — and, in truth, even if this man consciously chooses not to worry, he believes that doing so will surely bring down upon him all about which he had worried or feared! In fact, he secretly believes that it is worry alone that staves off such impending catastrophes, for unless one fears the worse, it is sure to happen ... Suppose, moreover, that the principal source of his worries was, as often it is, money, financial security — and that he had lived this way miserably for many years. Then imagine this man unexpectedly coming into a great sum of money; in fact, enough to provide him with the financial security for which he had so desperately longed — and then some. Can you begin to imagine his regret over those years spent in needless worry, those unrepeatable events in his life which he never truly enjoyed — those days, weeks, months, years spent under the pall of worry which, had he known of his future windfall, he would otherwise have embraced with enjoy, grasped in the happiness they would have lent him. For all his money, for all his present security, he cannot regain so much as one of them – all of them were lost, and forever, in the moment he had relinquished them to worry. In the end, his deepest regret would be the realization of his having lacked trust in the providence of God. Looking back, from an irrecoverable distance, he realizes too late that he had squandered all his time and so much of his life in needlessly worrying — when instead, he should have been rejoicing all along. This is a parable for modern man. Man immersed in matter. Man apart from God. Do not be afraid to rejoice in the moment. If your inheritance is not yet present, it is forthcoming. It is true. Christ Himself promised it.
Geoffrey K. Mondello
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