Cart precedes horse: I often find myself with the physical symptoms of worry — a sick stomach, jitteriness — and have to stop myself to wonder, “What am I worried about?” It is ridiculous on the face of it, and more so because I claim to be a woman of faith. Faith ought to preclude worry, no? Still, there it is, jangling my nerves, causing my foot to jiggle in a way that was once (truthfully) interpreted by a psychologist as “a desire to run away.”
What to do with this (often misplaced) worry? After all, all the worry in the world won’t change things. Nor is it my job to do the worrying — I know darned well that God’s got things in hand. Still, as long as there are ways for the world to disconcert us — from floods in Louisiana to earthquakes abroad — there will be worry. How to deal with it? As usual, poetry leads the way.
Peace.
I say I want it
but only after
the itchy blanket of worry
has its way, binding my
legs, making itself heavy on
my body.
Why can’t I skip
straight to peace —
forego torment and
allow the excellent swell
of God to buoy me up?
The sky has never fallen, yet
I crane my neck and cry, “It might, it might.”
Be at peace, little chicken.
The whole of the world will not swallow you
as long as you send your terrors
to heaven, and watch them dissipate
like breath in cold weather, like clouds.
10 comments
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August 18, 2016 at 4:45 pm
rhcwilliams
Yes! “…the excellent swell of God…” Mercy. And that last line: “..like breath in cold weather, like clouds,” made me feeeeel the peacefulness. Felt it.
PS I think that your feet were indeed trying to run away, but only from nosy, know-it-all psychologists! 🙂 Love this one, Lori.
August 18, 2016 at 6:08 pm
loristrawn
Oh Ruthie — you are so much better for me than any psychologist! Love you!
August 18, 2016 at 10:24 pm
rhcwilliams
Love you, too, dear Lori!! Keep feeding my soul these peaceful prayer-poems and neither one of us will need psychologists!
August 19, 2016 at 4:34 am
calensariel
I loved this! But I gotta tell you I groaned when I read it. Especially “The sky has never fallen, yet I crane my neck and cry, “It might, it might.” It doesn’t make any sense to me that despite what we profess we can’t practice what we preach. What does that say about us?
August 19, 2016 at 3:10 pm
loristrawn
I know, Calen. It is a great, shameful stumbling block in my life.
August 19, 2016 at 4:57 pm
LuAnne Holder
What a wonderful poem, Lori. It seems like worry is the default when the true default is that you can only live in the moment you find yourself in at any time. Love the line, “Be at peace little chicken.” I can read layers of interpretation in that line! So glad to discover this site.
August 21, 2016 at 3:26 pm
loristrawn
Thank you, LuAnne!
August 20, 2016 at 4:06 pm
Visionariekind
yes indeed – prayer is so much more than I’ve ever realised until I began to have a prayer life, I think it’s a necessity; I can’t go without and when I do boy are those challenging days. with love Krissy
August 21, 2016 at 3:27 pm
loristrawn
Your poetry is a steady stream of prayer to me, Krissy!
August 22, 2016 at 3:16 am
Visionariekind
thank you kindly for this power word of encouragement as we pray – many blessings to 😉