As I was reading in the gospel of Matthew this morning, the topic of fear came up.  I don’t know about you, but I can look back over my life and find way too many decisions that I made because I was afraid. Afraid of what someone will say, afraid of getting in trouble, afraid of anything going on my permanent record.

I would love to say that I’ve put that all behind me and fear never impacts me at all anymore…However, I can say that one of the good things I’ve learned over the past year is that there are certain things that we think are so important that we need to hold onto at all costs, its okay if they go…in fact their departure actually make life better.

Of course, there are other things that we still think, “if I lose that, I don’t think I could recover.”  Fear is pretty powerful stuff.

This past week a news story from the UK, referenced in the YouTube Video, got me thinking about a line from the Wear Sunscreen song, by Baz Luhrmann.  The line goes like this:

“Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.”

While we were in Ireland, we stayed on my father-in-law’s farm. And being in a farming area, there were a lot of hay bales.  In fact, one day, I was given the job of going out & counting how many hay bales were actually on the farm since they were going to be sold. (I am a man of many talents!) I can say without hesitation that while I was there counting hay bales, I was not afraid of them…at all.

Then last weekend, I read about one of the founding members of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Cellist Michael Edwards being killed in a car accident. When I was a teenager and used my Columbia House account to get as much music as I possibly could, my ELO 8-track was one of my favourites (Méabh loves ELO now….especially Mr Blue Sky [edit: 12/03/20]).

If you read the story, then you know that it wasn’t a regular car accident…Edward’s car was hit by a loose bale of hay.  Admit it…if you were to list the top 200 ways you’re afraid you might die, being hit by a bale of hay would not have made that list.  Edwards had also been treated for cancer recently, but it was a bale of hay, that ended his life.

How many decisions have we made because we were afraid of something that never happened?  Fear and worry have amazing power, and yet are pointless. Which is part of the reason that Jesus asked the: Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? [Matt. 7:27]

So what are you wasting time worrying about today?