All hail to thee, our worrisome savior.

Monday, December 30, 2024

Recently, I heard a very successful comedian speak about buying his mother a home. His intentions were nice. “She wouldn’t have to worry about housing expenses.” What a nice sentiment, to wash away worry with the elimination of a mortgage. Nice try, but like cancer, worry would resurface. Worry is not caused by circumstance, so how could it be cured by a change in one?

The root cause of worry is never fixed by situational variance. It will be projected onto another outer source in due time. Most people miss it in our common language. “I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that.” There you go – “have to.” To most people, worry is obligatory and applied to the outer world.

Billionaires worry. People with their mortgages paid in full worry. My octogenarian friends worry profusely. My 24 year-old friends worry to the point of knees knocking. We can’t seem to do without it, and we insist that it will be wiped clean by something outside of ourselves. How much does it cost to eliminate worry?

We’re collectively stupid, aren’t we? When we try to ease the burden of fear with a gesture of goodwill, it’s like putting a bandaid on cancer. Worry is an insidious, inner cesspool. My ex-husband was desperately poor. He slept poorly because he clung to money like a savior. But money can’t save him. Neither could I. There was no amount of it that could wipe his fear away. People cling to Jesus like a savior too. Those people seem to worry to the point of abject terror.

You need no saving, and you need no savings to live free from worry. You’re attached to worry itself. Worry is your savior. You can’t be healed until you realize that whatever ails you is also what cures you.