Discussion:
Reading: Matthew 6:25-27 Reflection: I have always been a worrier. When I became a mother, I had the children to worry about. And I worried even more. A friend of mine recently said, “Being the the mommy is such a paradox of joy and terror.” When you're a worrier, that's doubly true. When we worry about what could happen, what we should have done, what others think, etc. we miss out on the joy of what is happening now. These days, when I worry, I try very hard to think about the Dalai Lama. Five years ago, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama gave a lecture entitled “Generating a Good Heart” at Lehigh University, just 15 miles from my home. I will always remember everything about that experience. What I will remember most is when he told the audience, “If you don't like a situation, do everything you can to fix it. If it's beyond your control to fix it, then stop worrying about it.” In order to quote him more accurately, I retrieved this quote from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/570218.Dalai_Lama_XIV “If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, do everything you can to make it better. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” --Dali Lama XIV This is truly one of the most profound statements I have ever heard before or since. It's so simple, yet so powerful: Do what you can to fix a problem. Do what you can to fix something you don't like. Do what you can to make something better. But if you can't do anything about it, don't worry about it. Just let go and let God. -Christine Conz Moll, former Mount Luther camper. Closing: Mediate on or discuss with others the following poem excerpt retrieved from http://www.mepotelco.net/web/mepoinc/poetry/letgod.html To "Let Go," does not mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else. To "Let Go," is not to cut myself off, it's the realization I can't control another. To "Let Go," is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. To "Let Go," is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands - but in God's. Prayer: Dear God, please remind us that worrying takes away from enjoyment. Remind us, like the apostle Matthew does, that You will take care of us no matter what. Amen.
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