By Shari Mason

First Congregational Church

Matthew 6:25, 28 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life. … Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.”

Toil and spin is a good description of what worry looks and feels like. As Mark Twain said, “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

In the Gospels, we are told that worry buries the word, weighs down the soul, obstructs the work and creates unbelief. When we worry, we are toiling, spinning, burying, weighing down, obstructing and creating unbelief.

Speaking from the practice of a professional ruminator, the following quote has helped me wake up and smell the lilies of the field.

In “The Yamas & Niyamas – Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice,” author Deborah Adele writes, “Worry is another way violence gets masked as caring. Worry is a lack of faith in the other and cannot exist simultaneously with love. Either we have faith in the other person to do their best, or we don’t. Worry says I don’t trust you to do your life right. Worry comes from a place of arrogance that I know better what should be happening in your life. Worry says I don’t trust your journey, or your answers, or your timing. Worry is fear that hasn’t grown up yet; it is a misuse of our imagination. We both devalue and insult others when we worry about them.”

For other professional ruminators, it is good to read and re-read this paragraph on worry. To remind ourselves of the binding effect worry has on our relationships with God, with others and with ourselves. Dear God — April showers bring May flowers. Release us from the destructive hold of worry, so we may consider the lilies of the field. Amen.