Bible Study recap: Mark 6.25-33

We would also add worry about money to the list Jesus mentioned. We readily thought of weddings, where so much fret and worry goes into the perfect ceremony, reception and the months of planning and the thousands of dollars, all for one afternoon/evening. Or, Thanksgiving dinners where so much preparation and work goes into 20-minute feeding frenzy, that is eclipsed by the football game.

“Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things.” Is that a backhanded criticism, that if we really were people who knew God we wouldn’t worry?

The emphasis seems to be what we worry about. If we worry about ourselves, where we will find our food, drink and clothing; that is problem. Worry itself is not the issue. The Christian imperative is to worry about everyone else. Worry where the outcasts of society, people on the street, will find food, drink and clothing.

The birds seem so carefree, even the ungainly scavengers like gulls and turkey vultures soar majestically in the sky. They are confident there will be something for them to eat. The wildflowers bloom where conditions are right for them, even in the most inhospitable of climates or environments. The rest of creation simply acts as they are supposed to, acting on instinct and doing what they can.

We worry about things that we cannot control. Worry will always be there. What is our remedy? Pray, don’t worry, but it’s easier said than done. We cannot turn off our inner dialogue.

We “let go and let God”. We are reassured by the smallness of our world at times, how the connections other people surprise us in faraway places. There are too many coincidences and happenstances that bring people together to worry that we are alone.

So many charitable and giving acts would not happen if people did not worry about others. Don’t worry about yourself, that seems to be Christ’s message. In our own lives, we are to be assured that God will provide for us; and we are called to do what we can to provide for others.