what me worry?

It was a bit before my time, but wasn't that a famous slogan for MAD magazine? Anyway, it popped into my head this morning as I read again the story of Mary and Martha. "Martha, Martha, you are worried... by many things; there is need of only one thing..."

It is so true. There is need of only one thing, Jesus Christ the righteous. I am a worrier. It is in my family, and it has made its way to me. In the process toward ordained ministry we did a Spiritual Gifts inventory. We didn't take a personality test like most inventories require, but instead we shared three "success stories" with a small group. The group listened carefully, then sat in silence for a bit, and then gave feedback on the stories in terms of what Spiritual gifts they heard being exercised in the "success stories" of our lives. One wonderful woman heard in one of my stories that I had the gift of discernment. HA! To have the gift of discernment, to me, seems like it would mean discernment was easy for me. Well, as noted above, I'm a worrier, and worry means discernment ain't as easy as it should be.

I find myself right now in a place that doesn't require much in the way of worry, and I like it. I'd like to sit in this place for a while. But the worries will come. Money, time, vet bills, vacations, holidays, and on and on. The list of worries is long, even when the big stuff; vocation, call, marriage, etc., are relatively calm. I need to remember the one thing that trumps all worry. I need to constantly return to the one thing that sustains even in the midst of trial, of discernment.