Dear St. Paul’s Family,
My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.
- Michel de Montaigne
A few months ago, the girls and I were watching Mythbusters, one of our favorite television shows. In an episode called “Underwater Car,” the hosts tested several myths about how to escape a vehicle submerged in water. They discovered that there are very few options for getting out. - Michel de Montaigne
Due to external water pressure, one cannot open a car door until the interior is flooded. It is impossible to use the manual or power mechanisms to open the windows, and it is pointless to try to break the glass using a set of keys, a cell phone, or even steel-toed boots.
The only solution? You have to use a special window-breaking hammer. It is a simple device that concentrates force on a small point of impact, shattering the window with just the slightest tap, even when fully submerged.
I looked at the girls as we watched the show. “I should get one of those,” I said to them. “Yeah, you should,” they nodded in agreement. So, the next day, I went to the auto parts store here in town and shelled out $4.99 for a new window hammer, promptly tucked it in my glove compartment, and returned home feeling several notches more prepared for the future.
But then, I realized something.
I live in Iowa. In Cherokee, Iowa. I am thousands of miles from either ocean. The major body of water in this town is the Little Sioux River. It even has Little in its name. Yes, I suppose I could crash into the lake at the park, but let’s face it: I have a better chance of plowing into a runaway cow than submerging my car in water.
Yet, even in the most remote chance that I do, you can bet I’ll be ready.
WHAT, ME WORRY? ALL THE TIME!
We are wired to worry. Our evolution as a species has depended on a constant awareness of surrounding dangers. Any threat triggers an automatic flight-or-fight response that serves as a kind of internal smoke alarm. It grabs our attention in the nick of time, and our survival depends on it.
But what if that capacity to worry becomes a threat itself?
It’s not reasonable to expect that we’ll turn off our capacity to worry entirely, just as it is unwise to turn off the smoke alarms in our homes. But we can surely learn to manage our worries before they manages us.
I realized that I needed to learn this lesson a few days ago. Last Thursday, on a national holiday designated for rest and the enjoyment of freedom, I was feeling submerged in an ocean of low-level anxieties. Most of them were minor, just nagging, lingering, residual worries from weeks of daunting flood relief efforts, hours of musical theater practice, and myriad responsibilities at work and home. A few of the concerns were larger in nature, about my future and my past, simultaneously pressing into the moment.
I have a hunch that many of you can relate.
CPR FOR YOUR SOUL
So, I encourage you to practice that which I am prescribing myself. I invite you to consider make a more concerted effort to manage the low-level stresses that are in your life right now with three simple guidelines. I didn’t plan it this way, but as these came to mind, they formed the acronym C.P.R. Consider these as ways to resuscitate your soul and manage your worries:
Cultivate Contentment: Have you ever had one of those nostalgic moments when you longed for a time in the past when your life was easier and more joyful? Sure you have. We all have. We tend to crave certain aspects of those memories, wishing that we had today what we had back then. Now, consider the possibility that down the road, when you look back in the rear-view mirror, these present days might be the “good old days” that you long for someday. There might be aspects of your current situation that you may not fully cherish until they are gone. In the final episode of NBC’s The Office, a character named Andy said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” Well, there is. Count your blessings. Cultivate contentment.
Practice Mental Sabbaths: Take a page out of the Jewish playbook of keeping Sabbath, and designate a regular period of time to rest your mind and heart from anything that troubles you. Select several hours – or better yet, a whole day - for your mental Sabbath, in which you will not allow yourself to worry about anything, great or small. The Israelites prepared for Sabbath by doing all of their perfunctory chores in advance so that they could refrain from physical labor during their time of rest. How about doing the same for your mind? Try to cross as many stressful tasks off your to-do list before your Sabbath begins. Gather the scriptures, prayers, and personal effects that you will use to channel your worries away during that time. If you’d like a practical approach to centering prayer that you can use throughout your Sabbath, consider one that I described last December. [1]
Revive Your Relationships: Do you know what is also wired into our species to ensure our survival? Relationships. There is no greater way to combat threats – even low-level ones – than to do so in community. And there is no better resource in your life than the relationships you foster with family and friends. It may seem odd to connect worry with relationships, but ponder this truth: your ability to handle your worry is related to the strength of your relationships with others. I suspect that at this moment you can come up with at least a handful of loved ones with whom you have lost touch, for various reasons. Invest in those relationships, and you’ll realize that you are not alone. That sense of solidarity is a powerful antidote to worry.
I wish you well in the ways that you handle your worries, and will pray that you will always recognize the work of God’s peace in you. Enjoy your life. It’s the only one you get.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org
[1] http://mdevega.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-christmas-gift-to-you.html
CHURCH POOL PARTY!
Beat the heat this weekend with a church-wide picnic at Gillette Park followed by a pool party exclusively for St. Paul’s UMC! Join us at the park at 6:30 for a cookout: we’ll provide the grilled food and plastic ware, and we invite you to bring your own drinks and a side dish or dessert to share. Then, from 8:00 to 9:30 we’ll have the Bacon Aquatic Center all to ourselves, with plenty of surprises to keep us busy throughout the night. And admission to the pool will be free!
SOME TIME AWAY
The girls and I are looking forward to spending about ten days in Florida to rest and reconnect with family and friends. We will be gone from Sunday, July 21 to Friday, August 2. In addition to time with family in St. Petersburg, we will spend two days in Orlando at the two Disney water parks, and then spend about five days on the beach. Some dear friends from my former church are letting us stay in their amazing beach house, so we are excited to have some quiet days in the sun and sand.
I am pleased to let you know that Dave Orthman, a wonderful man and gifted lay preacher from Peterson, Iowa, will be preaching on July 21 and 28. I had the opportunity to hear him preach not too long ago, and I am convinced you will be blessed by his wisdom and preaching style. Finally, I will be taking a break from writing the Mid-Week Message for the next three weeks, and will resume it during the week of August 5.
