Matthew 6:25-30
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
In this part of his ‘Sermon on the Mount’, Jesus encourages us to think about worry and anxiety. He asks us to develop a different way of viewing the world and our life situation. Instead of constantly worrying we can practice the spiritual discipline called detachment, taking a God’s-eye view of things and recognising that worrying cannot change our situation or add anything to our length of life – indeed it may even contribute to ill health and a shortening of life! By keeping our focus on the eternal God we gain a better perspective on life. In the words of St Teresa of Avila’s famous ‘bookmark’ (found in her prayer book):
Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to one who possesses God. God alone suffices.
Collect
Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen
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