“Blueberry Blessings” “Anxiety and Abiding” Those are the titles I came up with as crafted these blogs in my head. When I began this blog, I decided a realistic expectation would be posting monthly. But since time marches on even when I fall out of step, and since I am my own “drum major,” I decided I could conduct myself any way I desired, and blog only when needed. I forgot to listen to the cadence of the Holy Spirit, who was telling me to “just do it.” So I shake off the guilt and tell myself “Ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it.” I shake off the metaphors, realize that God is beyond what I can describe, and I just listen…I hear him say “It’s okay, you don’t have to let others into your mind now,” and again when he says “Now’s the time.” So I begin my therapeutic reflection.
Blueberry Blessings. All I can remember about the day that I thought of this title is that it was late summer, school was about to start, and in a rush in my kitchen I spilled a carton of fresh blueberries on the floor in front of the fridge. At that moment, I realized that I could either curse and throw them all away, or gather them up with the dirt and dog hair that seems to be plentiful in my house, and put them back in the fridge with a promise to wash them thoroughly before serving them. That is what I did, but my blue-eyed blueberry lover of a son beat me to it and ate them right out of the carton. He lesson I remembered – focus on the blessings, and try not to let the dog hair get you down.
And now it’s the time to reflect on “Anxiety and Abiding”
So I’ll start with defining my terms. Anxiety in its current usage today definitely has a negative connotation. When I think about the definition of anxiety, I think of worry with a capital A, which moves it to the front of the alphabet. Worry and nagging fears annoy, but anxiety has the taste of some kind of official diagnosis. It’s almost as if worry takes up residence and decides to stay. One of the definitions that came up when I googled the term was “a multi-symptom response to a perceived threat or danger” (can’t cite my source, oh well).
But being anxious about something can also be good, as in “I’m anxious to get started, let’s go!” I can even put both of them in the same sentence – I’m anxious to get to heaven, but if I’m not careful, my Anxiety will get me there faster.
Answers .com, the world’s leaning Q & A site defines “abiding” as follows:
adj. Lasting for a long time; enduring: an abiding love of music.
N. noun form “abode”, as in “my humble abode” to dwell
v., a·bode (ə-bōd'), or a·bid·ed, a·bid·ing, a·bides.
v.tr.
1. To wait patiently for: "I will abide the coming of my lord" (Tennyson).
2. To withstand: a thermoplastic that will abide rough use and great heat.
v.intr.
1. To remain in a place.
2. To continue to be sure or firm; endure.
3. To dwell or sojourn.
idiom: abide by
To conform to; comply with: abide by the rules; had to abide by the judge's decision
One of my favorite hymns comes to mind - “Abide with Me Fast Falls the Eventide.” Is a prayer for the Lord to abide with me, in verse 2 especially – “I need thy presence every passing hour, What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?” Here is the powerful truth - God’s grace is the antidote to the lies that sneaky little voice in our heads that says, “you’ll never get there, your goals are like lofty dreams – like clouds blown away…” And Grace answers with the truth, “It’s okay, yes I gave you dreams, and parts of them may blow away, but what I want to keep, I’ll keep, for I made the wind, and I made you too, and the essence of you – the beautiful soul that is my masterpiece, that I love, I preserve, and I will abide there. I am sure and firm, I endure. I have made your heart my dwelling place, now come home – to that place in your heart, and abide in me. Be sure of me, waiting patiently for my plan to unfold, and abide by the law, and as you seek to hear my voice first, and do not despise preaching or his word, honor others, worship me, and you will see that I am there too – shining through and covering you with Grace to not fear failure but I will allow you to excel in my name.”
I’m not sure if God speaks in such long run-on sentences, but I have a feeling it doesn’t bother him to do so.
