What, Me Worry?

The great American philosopher Alfred E. Newman* once said, “What, me worry?”  I have been contemplating lately the uncomfortable fact that I am not in control of my world. As I write this, I am finishing preparations for a special Ash Wednesday worship service, scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Also as I write this, I look out my window and see some incredibly beautiful snowflakes falling down as part of what is supposed to be 1-3 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. So naturally I worry about the weather forcing us to cancel plans for this service and other activities here at the church where I serve as pastor.


Now, there is nothing I can do about the weather; I have absolutely no say in whether the snow continues for the next 48 hours or stops in the next 45 seconds. And yet I spend mental, emotional and spiritual energy on worrying about whether we will be able to have this service, or have other scheduled events. I worry that someone will get hurt on their way to or from one of these events if we don’t cancel them. I worry about whether people will begin to wonder what they are paying me for if we keep canceling events. I worry about the church being able to pay our bills if we keep having such weather experiences. I worry...

A very wise man (much wiser than Newman!) once said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34). Jesus’ words offer people like me grace in the face of our tendency to worry. It is as if he is telling me, “If you can’t make yourself stop worrying (a much better frame of mind, by the way), at least try to limit yourself to one day at a time. There is enough to focus on in this one day, this one moment. You are liable to explode if you try to take on too much worry at one time.” I think he is right, too. I have felt like I was right on the verge of my head blowing up at times. Or maybe that is just my allergies to cats?

So, what to do? Should I worry about worrying too much? Can I handle that one more thing to worry about? Or could I perhaps choose a saner approach and pause to thank God that I am not in charge of tomorrow, or even of very much of today. I am pretty sure most of us would not like the results very much if I was. There was way too much truth in the movie “Bruce Almighty” for my comfort.

A saner approach would be, as I said, to celebrate the one who really is in charge. To work every day at giving away one piece of my desire to control and to confess my lack of trust. To echo a father many years ago who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

And then to sit back a moment and really pay attention to those beautiful snowflakes while they last. But wait, they have stopped! I wonder if I should be worried about that?

*Alfred E Newman.  Oh come on, you know, from MAD Magazine.  You know you used to love it!