Llanwenarth Baptist Church Govilon - Abergavenny

Helen's Musings
I'm a dog person ... Inca, our sprocker spaniel, would be causing chaos if she was with us in church on a Sunday, but I love her. When writing about his own beloved dog Martin Luther claimed: Our Lord has made the best gifts, the most common. You might be a cat person, or a lizard person, but I hope you can relate. And, just as we tend to treat our pets like people, I think it's often easy for us to forget that we too are animals. It's only a 2% difference between our DNA and the DNA of a chimpanzee that accounts for our ability to write poetry, compose music, create vaccines, invent the iPad or brew beer. That 2% is also responsible for the much darker aspect of humanity, things like I'm a celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Love Island!
But let's not dwell on that. No, what we tend to do much more often with our bigger brains is worry. Our brains can conceptualise the future that is not yet real and we even fool ourselves into believing that we need to do this; as though if we worry enough we can prevent the badness. But powerful as the human brain is, it isn't that powerful. So lest we become convinced that we are greater than other animals, just because we can do a Sudoku puzzle, Jesus reminds us that these vast evolved brilliant brains of ours might have a little something to learn from birds. Do not worry about your life. Look at the birds. Just let go of your anxieties about tomorrow. How by worrying can I add a single hour to the span of my life, worry doesn't make the thing I fear not happen. It just diminishes my present. What parent by worrying can ensure their children make good life choices? Who by worrying can make a lover love them more? Nothing is added to our lives by worrying, but plenty is taken away. It makes me miss every good thing that is right in front of me now. It gives me nothing, but it takes much away. Worry cuts me off from love and beauty and pleasure that God has presented to me in the present moment. When Jesus says not to worry I don't hear a command; perhaps it's permission. Less, 'stop worrying' and more, 'it's okay, I'll take the anxiety, you can let it go.'
I don't know about you, but there's so much that could go wrong in this world that I can feel that it is my responsibility to worry. As if anxiety and vigilance are the same thing; they are not. Just be in today. It's okay. I can let Jesus have tomorrow. I'm not advocating irresponsibility; it is responsible to plan and as members of the Jesus Movement we are called to action, but I don't have to worry about what might happen, remember God is already present in the future we are worrying about. And meanwhile, Jesus says, it's okay. Give your worries to him and live in the present. Notice the way God's magnificent creation is bursting with joy. We get to be here. Just be in this day. It is wonderful. We get to feel how exquisite it is to be alive and know that the Lord is good and has indeed made the best gifts, the most common. This is the abundance of God's salvation.
With thanks to Google