Burying worries

One of the most painful challenges we face in life is tackling nagging worries and anxieties. It is next to impossible to overcome them altogether, unless we have full control over them, and it is an art to take full control of what makes us worried and anxious. One might think it is easier said than done, because there is hardly any soul on earth who does not go through anxious moments and come in contact with worries. No doubt, when they are not checked in time, they could lead to depression, and that could turn out to be fatal if it becomes chronic. I am no psychologist or psychiatrist to analyse the different reasons responsible for excessive worries and anxieties, but I would like to look at them from psycho-spiritual point of view. I might sound a bit too spiritual when I begin to discuss what Jesus has to say about worries and anxieties, but the point is Jesus had a remedy for this malady which haunts several men and women of our age.

Let us turn to the Holy Bible to see what Jesus says about these unfriendly allies to human beings. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Mt 6:25-26) … “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Mt 6:34). Jesus is addressing the problem squarely, and is it not heartening to realize that two thousand years ago, Jesus had known what our generation may be going through in an acute way! And what he tells us may not sound too profound, but if we give a serious thought to his words, we will realize that he has a serious point to make.

Jesus no doubt is making this part of the discourse in the context of dependence on God, or a superior being, if one feels the word God too intimidating. It does not require of me to tell that every human person is limited, and we have no other option than to depend on others to fulfill most of our needs and wants. Fortunately, the society we live in fulfill these needs, and there are certain other needs which we draw from our inner self. There are a few wants where we cannot look up to human persons; for instance a child who is too frightened of darkness may cling on to its mother, but when we grow into adulthood, we have to device certain mechanism to handle fear by ourselves, and in this case, we may believe and call upon God to stand close by, so that we would not experience fright. Similarly there are areas which are beyond the reach of human persons, and they are the ones where we need to look up to God for assistance.

Let me now explain the same concept from the perspective of the twentieth century ‘existentialist philosophy’. Here in this category we may recall the contributions of Jean Paul Sartre, Nietche, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and others. Confronted with human tragedies and predicaments, these men and women tried to find amicable ways of handling them, but not resting their faith on religious believes, but on reason and logic. Sartre might tell those who are excessively worried that they might find relief from them, only when they dare to take a leap into the unknown, and they put it figuratively as jumping into the everlasting deep hole. Is it too frightening? They are just repeating what Jesus has told the people, though here the terminology is somewhat philosophical, but the idea remains the same. Unless we are ready to let things go out of our control, we might still be tied to them.

Let me present an image for dependence on the superior power, or on God; to let things go out of our hands might sound too frightening, but it is only when we do it, can we find life bearable and meaningful. One may find safe and secure when his boat is fastened to the shore, and to let the rope go and let the boat move forward is too frightening, and anything could happen when the boat is in the middle of the river, but if one does not want to take the risk of letting things go, one might be stuck to where one was. To reach the other shore, we have to let the rope go free, and allow the boat to face the currents of the river and find its own pace and route to reach the other shore. Those who are worried too much are seeing the risks and dangers involved rather than the possibility of reaching the other shore by letting the rope go free. We shall come back to the topic again, to explain the art of letting things go.