“Can any of you add a single hour to the length of your life by worrying?” (Matthew 6: 27, International Standard Version)

Think about it. Is there anything about worrying that is productive, progressive, healing? Does fretful preoccupation ever yield anything fruitful? Does worry have any power at all except to attempt to muddle thought, stymie action, and rob us of our rightful joy and freedom in this moment? We never gain a single hour by worrying, but we surely lose a good one in this pointless activity!

So, let’s learn the difference between being rightly alert to concerns that need weeding out, healing, and conquering; as opposed to giving undue focus and weight to challenges through unnecessary fretting and ruminating. We can immediately begin to calm the fearful thought with the conscious awareness that with God—infinite wisdom and goodness—there is always and already an answer, a resolution, our cares met. This release of the need to personally fix and change things and instead to know that God’s answer of peace is at hand, clears the mist and allows for right ideas that are clear and wise and healing.

When you catch yourself in the mode of worrying about things large or small, remind yourself what a waste of time this is. Challenge that fretfulness with the recognition that your time could be spent in much better ways. Say a grateful good-bye to those worries and their seeming cause through your conscious release to Life, and to the Truth of God’s faithful and loving care for you and for all!

These messages are based on passages from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. These books are our “pastor” in Christian Science. Come back every Tuesday and Thursday for fresh inspiration. Or get a free subscription to receive an inspirational message like this one every morning directly to your inbox by contacting me at lamolitercs@aol.com. Put “subscribe” in the subject line. A downloadable compilation of categorized messages is also available by request.