Go sit in it for a while.
Spend some time getting into the motion, and let the rhythm of the rocking harmonize with your breath and heartbeat...now slow down and come to stillness. Ok. Now read on.
One of my wise old mentors, Aunt Catherine used to say "Worrying is like rocking too fast in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere."
Hmmmm.... Now wait, rocking chairs offer comfort and rest, right?
Maybe it's not so much about the rocking as it is about the attitude and focus while doing it. Maybe it's about the fixation upon worry that can agitate the heart, mind and soul and actually undo any comfort or rest offered by the activity of rocking.
So let's think about worrying....
There's alot of talk about anxiety these days. We talk about its causes, its symptoms, its effect upon us and our communities, its management, its cure, its collateral damage and its residue (leftovers) ... We spend time with it, money on it and drain our energy dry in its presence. We categorize it as acute (specific to a situation) or chronic (an abiding sense of unknown but perpetually impending doom).
In a way, all of our talk about worry results in a frenzied fixation upon it. The talk may give us something to do, but does it really get us anywhere?
Clearly, worry and anxiety are not new to the human experience. In the family of emotions, fear, lust and anger are close cousins to worry and anxiety. As with so many aspects of the human condition, scripture has much to say about the restless, anxious heart. Read the lessons for this week (especially the Gospel). You can see that of all the ways we can possibly be, "worried" is not one that is recommended or affirmed by God.
Are you worried or anxious? Go find that rocking chair.... but let its rhythmic comfort deepen your awareness of God's soothing presence. Think of the abundant, limitless power of God to not only know more about what you need than you do, but to also provide it.
Rock on!
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