"Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and give them continuous trembling in their loins." Psalm 69
Continuing from my last column, we live in an anxious world. There’s lots going on that causes us concern. We worry that if the “other side” wins an election, the world as we know it will end. That would be true no matter which side wins, of course. Each day is new. The world I knew yesterday does not exist anymore, except in my own memory, and I don’t want to tell you how that is doing these days!
I talked about some of the things we can do to reduce our anxiety. Turn off the television, for instance, and put your senses to work. Sometimes our brains are like records where the needle is stuck. Back in the day, you’d bump the machine and the needle would pop past the scratch and continue playing music from a new spot. We treated our records gently, but we also knew they would get worn and scratched over time. By then, though, there was a new set of music arriving on the Top Forty, so we simply moved on and discovered new joys, new sounds, new lyrics, and new artists.
That’s harder to do internally, of course. My brain loves scratchy records. I find it far easier to bring up the slights and injuries of the past than the wonderful things that have happened. When I’m hurt, my brain is velcro; when good things happen, it’s teflon.
I was glancing at the psalm posted above and couldn’t help but notice just how vindictive the psalmist was. Every now and then we see the dark side of the faithful. In this particular psalm, the author goes on and on about all the terrible things he would love to see God do to those who have irritated the writer. While the sentiments disturb me, I find I understand them all too well.
When people anger us, we want vengeance. I knew a man once who hurt me terribly; he did me a real injustice. One day I heard he’d contracted shingles. Did I pray for his healing? Of course not. I rejoiced and hoped it was a painfully bad case! For a few minutes. I knew in my heart of hearts that I’d been hurt, but to wish pain on others just isn’t right. Even if we feel justified at the moment, we are called to be better than that.
The psalms (and other scriptures) are often mirrors against which we look and see ourselves. While there’s not much I can do about my enemies “out there,” I can certainly be aware of those enemies that lie within my breast, like sloth, lust, anger, pride, envy, gluttony, and greed – the seven deadly sins, as they’re sometimes called. I call them the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) of the Soul; they cause our loins (figuratively) to quiver, our bowels to run. They are a cancer to us all.
A lot of the anxiety people have to deal with is a result of issues that have never been fully dealt with or resolved. We can’t undo the past, of course; it’s history. I’ve learned to turn things like that over to God and move on. One friend says he tosses those memories into the Lake of Misery and posts No Fishing on the bank.
Finding techniques that work is good. I don’t like how I feel when I’m engaged in conflict, or when I have to deal with toxic people. I ask myself: Is there anything you can do about this? If the answer is no, I leave it and move on. To dwell on things, people, or situations we can’t change is hazardous to one’s well-being.
What I can change, though, is my attitude. I don’t pray for my enemies in order to heap coals upon their heads, but to unload manure from my own knapsack. I’ve always felt that God has a special filter through which good prayers go directly to God, and the rest go through a heavenly shredder. I find that when I pray right, my soul is at rest, my anxiety is reduced, and my loins quit quaking. It gives me peace here in this, our valley. May you find your peace here, too, as well.
Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)
No comments:
Post a Comment