Let not your hearts be troubled

Everything’s going to be all right. I want to go rub the shoulders of a worried nation and reassure them. I want to say Look up! “I will lift mine eyes up to the hills,” may have been the psalmist’s attempt to say the same thing to the worried and weary of his generation. Even if you can’t wrap your heart around the next part of the psalm…”From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,” just begin the progression toward calming your troubled soul by looking up…and out.

When we focus on the fears at hand, we are trapped in the mire of short term thinking. We feel burdened filling our cars up with gas, we feel worried about the status of our jobs (or in our household’s case…the absence of jobs…but let’s not get bogged down in details here!), the state of the economy, ceaseless fighting…

Stop the maddness…the sadness…the desperation!

Just ask yourself this…if you lost everything you own today, would you be okay? (We can still get to computers at the library to blog together!!) If you lost your reputation, would you be okay? If you had no way to help your children financially, would they be okay? Well, I hope your answer to all these things is “of course!” because none of that is who you are. Sometimes, when fear has you pinned to the mat, just ask yourself “what is the worst thing that could possibly happen?” and you will be amazed how quickly fear has to let loose of your soul.

I don’t think our purpose on this earth is to live the good life (although, I definitely do) I think our purpose is to be available to God to make life good. When I talk about availability, I mean of your spirit, with your mind and body ready to follow. God needs channels for hope and goodness on this earth. When we stop focusing on what “might happen” and focus on what “good happens” we are on a much better track toward reversing the spiral of depressing thoughts and angst that cloaks our own light and dims the light of the world.

Today, just do these simple things and see if you can unblock a channel or two and let more goodness flow through you. I hope you will find yourselves in a higher place.

1.     Don’t gossip. Even about political candidates. Remember…we don’t really know them. I was talking about the failed system with my friend Deena last night as we returned from working at a homeless shelter. Now why I know this doesn’t seem like gossip in the traditional sense…it was. I was passing along information that wasn’t required at the moment; may have been out of date (it’s been five years since I served on the organization’s board, so I really know nothing factual); and was dark—bad news about how we function as a society. Meanwhile, Deena was on the high ground, she was thinking about how incredibly well behaved the children were with whom we’d played games and had cake, how we could put together party kits for the next birthday celebration…she was probably remembering the faces of kids who had a wonderful break before returning to the 10′ x 15′ room they shared with their family.

It is easy to point out the flaws. Really, they have trained monkeys to do that. It takes a noble heart to stay on higher ground. So let’s lift one another up.

2.     Synergize! I know. It’s not a verb. But when we unite our spiritual energy in a positive way…sharing all the good stuff…the atmosphere becomes almost electric. You can feel the power of goodness. We have to work ourselves up to this by tricking our dark side. When it wants to worry over the headlines of the day, focus on the birds outside; the sound of your children’s voices; the luck you have to live in a country that has supermarkets and pharmacies on every corner…just common goodness…and then SHARE IT! Go have a hug and a cup of joy with a neighbor or your spouse. Life is good! Give goodness wings by connecting to some other light hearted soul and spreading a bit of joy.

(Note…I think melancholy has a place in our lives and that we aren’t meant to be “happy” all the time. Euphoria can not be a constant state. Contentment can be. So I’m talking more about finding the joy of peaceful, hopeful living even in the face of “bad news” rather than being a perpetual purveyor of positive thinking! Say those last four words in your best advertisers voice. It’s fun.)

3.     Get up early. Get up ahead of the day and it’s like the worries get confused because you have a head start on them! My sister sent me a great quote last night. It was geared toward women, but I want to lift up all the wonderful, powerful good men in my life too…so I am paraphrasing. Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says…”Oh Shit! She/He’s awake!”

March on in joy friends. Breathe on in peace. Know that ultimately, you are the thing that matters most. Just you and the vessel God wants you to be to carry a little goodness into the world.

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