Anxiety
Anxiety is nothing less than the physiological effects
of worry on the body and mind, and worry comes from being overwhelmed with the
unknown, and thereby gripped and paralyzed with fear. For this, there is only
one solution, and that is simply to acquiesce and accept what is and what shall
be. Much of life’s anxiety comes because we are so set upon changing what will not
change, or hoping against hope. Like a man who tries to move a stubborn stump
from his yard, the one who lives life overwhelmed with anxiety and worry
expends all their energy each day hoping to remove the stump, only to see the
stump in the same place each morning when they awake. The one who will find
peace must learn to be content with the stump, instead of spending all their energy
worrying and trying to remove it. Paul said, I have learned that in whatever
state I find myself to be content. Contentment oftentimes involves accepting
those things that are not going to change, as though they are meant to be! As
Paul awaited his immediate departure from this world, he had come to understand
that it was the natural order and progression of things and ultimately of life
itself, and so he embraced it, and yearned for it, instead of fighting it. If
you want to deal with much of the anxiety in your life, quit spending all your
energy trying to change that which will not change, instead of working to
remove the stump, pull up a chair, and place your coffee cup upon it, and see
the beauty which surrounds it instead!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
8/7/2017
