WHY WORRY?

Remember Alfred E. Newman of Mad magazine fame? His gap toothed grin graced the cover usually with the caption “What, me worry?” Often I wished I could be as oblivious as my childhood friend Alfred. Unfortunately, though I have been on the path a long time I am still subject to worry occasionally. Like you I read and watch the news and think about those suffering, wondering what is down the road. My children are all adults but I still worry for them. When one of the cats strolls outside I worry about them (don’t start, I have I tried to keep them in but they are all strays who adopted us and when they want to go out THEY WANT TO GO OUT). I worry that somehow I have strayed down the wrong path and won’t find my way back. I have learned over the years the extent of my worry can be viewed as a yardstick of my spiritual condition. Today when worry creeps into my mind I turn to God as close to immediately as I can. When the World worries me I remember “The Captain is on the Bridge”. My children, gifts from God, are as close to Him as we all are, so when I fear for them I ask God to do for them what they cannot do for themselves and to give me the strength to do what He would have me do in their lives, and not meddle. I don’t care what anyone says, letting your children make their own mistakes so they can grow just as we had to requires a lot of prayer. Cats? Well if you have cats you understand, if you are a dog person you aren’t supposed to get it and that’s not a bad thing. It’s not that you care any less for your dog but cats just assume you understand about their divinity. When I worry that I have stumbled and lost my way I remember His footprints:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

So I guess Alfred had it right all along.