Sunday, November 26, 2006

Worry .. Who Me ?




I like the picture. For most people who worry, they place a mask over themselves so others do not know that worry is occurring. It is very much how life is for us, isn't it ?

We put this mask on and try to cover up who we are. However, that is really going to be a different post for a different time because mask wearing is what happens quite frequently in our churches.

Currently, I am in a state of worry. The reason for the worry will not be the topic of this post either. The reason for this post - besides cries from my 2 readers that I needed to update my blog .. I am worrying and see that Time Magazine is doing an article on worry.

Here are some interesting clips for the future article:

We agonize over avian flu, which to date has killed precisely no one in the United States, but have to be cajoled into getting vaccinated for the common flu, which contributes to the deaths of 36,000 Americans each year.

Shoppers still look askance at a bag of spinach for fear of E. coli bacteria while filling their carts with fat-sodden French fries and salt-crusted nachos.


We used to measure contaminants down to the parts per million," says Dan McGinn, a former Capitol Hill staff member and now a private risk consultant. "Now it's parts per billion."

At the same time, 20 percent of all adults still smoke; nearly 20 percent of drivers and more than 30 percent of backseat passengers don't use seat belts; two-thirds of us are overweight or obese.


Which risks get excessive attention and which get overlooked depends on a hierarchy of factors. Perhaps the most important is dread.

Bad things happen and we get worry and fretted. Hurricanes, Typhoons, school shootings ... you make the list. We scream and yell " this is our wake up call "

Well, let me tell you, it is not a wake-up call ..it is the snooze alarm. It agitates us but we do not follow through. We hit the button of life and move on.

What is it that you worry about ? Are they worth worry about ? Are you worry about the right things ?

For me, my list of worry is growing. There are some things that I am extremely concerned about. I think they are legitimate things to worry on.

My challenge is the following: to not let the worry consume me, take one step forward each day and when I am tempted to put on the mask, I need to throw it aside.

1 comment:

sonflowergurl said...

Very well put! I read this the other day and was in awe of what you wrote. I wish I had read that a couple of years ago, or even come across it a year ago. It's SO true!