In Greek and Cypriot culture, "Worry beads," also called Kompoloi, are strings of beads manipulated with one's hands to pass the time. Among the traditional uses, the beads serve as an amulet, to guard against bad luck. It should come as no surprise that worry beads are a hot topic of conversation these days.
In that connection, it is interesting to recall a conversation that took place between Jesus and His Apostles on the evening of Holy Thursday. In that conversation, Jesus told the Apostles that He was about to leave them. He knew that His hour of crucifixion was drawing near and the Apostles were understandably filled with worry. We can imagine them fidgeting with their worry beads or anything else they can find to guard against what they feared was to come.
In the verses immediately preceding this Gospel lesson, the Apostle Peter tells Jesus that he will follow Him wherever He goes. Jesus answers, "Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now." Peter replies, "Lord, why can't I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You." And Jesus responded "Lay down your life for Me? I tell you most solemnly before the cock crows, you will have disowned Me three times" (Jn. 13:36-38). Then, right in the middle of this stunning exchange, Jesus says to the Apostles: "Do not let your hearts be troubled! Believe in God and believe in Me!" (Jn. 14:1).
To those worried about the future today the message is still clear: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day" (Mt. 6:34). Jesus therefore is telling us that He will support and sustain us in the concerns of a single day. He is telling us that we can "master the demons of worry" if we confine them to a single day. He is also advising us to leave yesterday's guilt and tomorrow's fears to God.
If you go to tomorrow to borrow worry for today, you're going to find that the anxiety is astronomical. It just grows and grows.
Just a thought as we head toward the fifth Sunday of Easter...If you are keeping track.
Oh right...It's Mother's Day too!
No comments:
Post a Comment