…with love from Audrey (Pastor Audrey Ward)
What on earth does “don’t panic” mean?
A buddy of mine texted those words to me this week. I laughed out loud at his examples: Suddenly start driving in circles? Run erratically all over to stores buying you-don’t-care-what, just a lot of it? Turn into a catatonic or raging maniac? How does a society reach that state.
Good questions, really. Even better, how do we hold our own selves steady and reach a hand into cyber-space to keep each other from toppling into chaos? Well there are the usual ways of phone calls, email and a site or two of social media that may feel like good company depending on your attitude to that sort of thing. But I actually trust my own insides, and I’ve discovered that when I take time to learn something new or to use my minutes doing something I can look back on and say, “There. That’s in place”--even if it’s as simple as a made bed--I feel a little bit better.
Because it’s our minds that need that
don’t panic
signal. The mind-body connection is exquisitely real. A Psalm can also be a tonic. Here are the last few verses of Stephen Mitchell’s adaptation of the 127
th
:
Vainly you keep toiling and planning
and worrying about tomorrow.
He gives joy to those who love him
and blesses them with peace.
