Novelist Vicki Baum once said, "You don't get ulcers from what you
eat. You get them from what's eating you." And what's eating us much
of the time is worry. It eats us from the inside out.
I wish I could always be like former baseball player Mickey Rivers.
He philosophized, "Ain't no sense worrying about things you got
control over, because if you got control over them, ain't no sense
worrying. And there ain't no sense worrying about things you got no
control over either, because if you got no control them, ain't no
sense worrying."
Maybe that makes sense, I'm just not sure. But even if it does, I'll
likely wind up worried anyway. Which is why I like this story
related by inspirational Dutch author and holocaust survivor Corrie
ten Boom.
Corrie learned a powerful lesson as a little girl. Having
encountered the lifeless body of a baby, she realized that people
she loved would someday die, too. She thought about the fact that
her father and mother and sister Betsie could quite possibly pass on
before she does. The thought frightened and worried her.
One night her father came in to tuck her into bed. Corrie burst into
tears and sobbed, "I need you. You can't die. You can't!"
Her father sat on the edge of the narrow bed and spoke tenderly to
his daughter. "Corrie," he said gently, "when you and I go to
Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"
She sniffed a few times and considered the question. "Why, just
before I get on the train," she answered.
"Exactly," he continued. Then he gave her assurance that was to last
a lifetime. "When the time comes that some of us have to die, you
will look into your heart and find the strength you need - just in
time."
Some years later Corrie and her family, arrested for sheltering Jews
and members of the Dutch resistance, were sent to Nazi concentration
camps. She, indeed, experienced the deaths of her parents and
sister, as well as numerous friends. She endured hardships that she
could never have imagined as a young child. But the words of her
father stayed with her and proved to be true. "You will look into
your heart and find the strength you need - just in time." She
always did. Regardless of the suffering or hardship she encountered,
when she looked inside her heart she found the strength she needed -
just in time.
If you worry and fret, or if you feel anxious about your future, you
may find Corrie's experience helpful. And if that thing you dread
should ever arrive, then you need only look inside your heart. The
strength you need can be found there - just in time.
-- Steve Goodier
Now you can add your own comments to Life Support.
http://stevegoodier.blogspot.com/
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