Worry

"Do not worry...." says Jesus.

But we all do - we worry about all sorts of things. Even folks who are not "worriers" worry from time to time - it seems to be a part of the human condition.

The prohibition against worrying is not about ignoring everything around us but rather about creating an emotional and spiritual distance between ourselves and those things which can too easily occupy our minds and sap our energy. We like to be in control of ourselves and our destiny. We like to have enough in reserve to maintain our comfort - we like to have the future clearly mapped. It seems almost naive to rest on God enough to be able to say the the things which preoccupy us, goods and knowledge and control actually don't matter because it will be OK - God has a plan and we are so much more beautiful than even the lilies of the field.

This balance between occupation with the things of the world and preoccupation with them is very difficult. Is simply letting go of all worry a possibility and where does this leave our responsibility for those we are to care for in the world - can we look after and not worry?

Whilst we may assume that the religious, cloistered in a convent or monastery, has a near impossible task of sanctity, it is , in fact, in every day life that that most of us are called to test ourselves and find God. Making the every day holy, finding God in the ditches and cracks of life is where we will find ourselves most challenged.

Some of this life of transformation of ourselves and the world around us will involve worry but where this worry is placed is vital. In the life of holiness the worry is placed firmly in the knowledge that, as St. Paul says in Romans, there is nothing which will seperate us from Christ, nothing. This casts a different light and importance on how we regard things -somehow the "latest " and "shiniest" give way to a longer term relational look at the world both through the eyes of God and our fellow human beings. Resolving relationships becomes our worry rather than how our coat should be cut.

The lilies of the field, beautiful to behold. The fruits of God's glorious field, the people of God - how much more must God love us all.