Squirrels of Worry

                It was a crisp, Fall day, and I decided to take a long walk in the park across the street from my home. Having nowhere that I had to be, and no pressing issues at hand, I wasn’t in much of a hurry. I was just enjoying the weather and getting some much needed fresh air. It’s a fairly large park, with walking paths that wind through play areas for children, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and heavily wooded areas. There were very few people in the park, and I found myself alone with my thoughts as I walked at a casual pace, taking in a deep breath every so often to enjoy the scent of nature all around me. There was a slight chill in the air. Not enough to make me feel uncomfortable, but enough to cause me to keep my hands in my jacket pockets. If I stood still and exhaled heavily, I could see just a slight trace of my breath in the chilly air. It was, in short, the kind of beautiful Fall day that many of us who’ve grown up in the Midwest have learned to love.

                As I walked along the path, I began to hear the squirrels running across the dried leaves that covered the ground. There were no outside noises from traffic or people or construction of any kind, so the sound of the leaves crunching under the feet of the squirrels as they ran across the wide open fields became more and more apparent to me.

                I then began to notice a different sound  - the sound of the nails on the squirrels feet digging into the bark of various trees as they scurried up the sides. When I first began my walk, I barely even noticed the sounds. But the longer I walked, the more obvious these sounds became. In fact, as my ears became more in tune to these sounds, the more constant they became, and what felt like almost absolute peace and quiet when I had started out had become a near symphony of sounds - some very near, some farther away, and some way off in the distance.

                As I continued to walk, I knew that these furry little creatures were running through the fields and up into trees because they had become startled by me and were simply trying to keep their distance. But as I stopped for a moment and looked around, there seemed to be literally hundreds of them. The thought occurred to me that – had they banded together and decided to take me out of the game, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I could never possibly defend myself against such a great number of these small, nimble animals with their sharp nails and teeth.

                It was at this point that an extremely valuable life lesson dawned on me. These little squirrels that surrounded me were very symbolic of the worries we all face in our day to day lives. We’re walking along, trying to enjoy all that life has to offer, and we suddenly become very aware of all of the little worries that scurry around in our lives. In fact, the more we focus upon them, the more we see and the louder they become. We sometimes begin to add them up in our minds, turning them into larger than life threats that keep us locked in fear of moving forward and enjoying our lives the way that we should. In fact, we can become nearly paralyzed in fear as we imagine all of the things that could possibly go wrong on any given day.

                It is during times like these that Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34 can feel like a breath of fresh air to us.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

            The next time you find yourself walking down whatever path you may be on, and you realize that you’ve suddenly become very aware of the sheer volume of things that cause you to worry, take a deep breath and remind yourself of Jesus’ words. Don’t allow the “squirrels of worry” to change the direction of your path, or to take away from you the breath of fresh air you’ve just stopped to inhale.