Worrying about the weather

Right now, we are in the middle of the weather roller coaster that is March in Iowa. A couple of weeks ago, we had summer, spring, and winter within just a few days. The old saying holds true again, if you don’t like the weather in the mid-west, just wait 20 minutes and it will change.

Just like the weather, in life things change constantly, sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the bad. Just think of the time in which someone gave you some very good news that surprised you, or the shock of having a sudden challenge in life. Even turning on the news can cause us to see the changes going on in the world and that can lead us to worrying about things.

How often do you get caught up in the things that are going on, things that you have no control over? We live in a time in which you can pull out of your pocket or purse a device that can instantly give you information from just about anywhere in the world with the click of a thumb. I have a friend who has banned his mother from watching the Weather Channel because she used to sit and watch it most of the day and worry about the weather in other countries and regions. The weather is something that she could not control but she worried about it anyway. While there are times that we really wish that we could control the weather, we cannot. We spend so much time stressing and worrying about things that we shouldn’t; they are things that are not in our hands, but in God’s.

This is something that I need to listen to myself, I constantly worry about the things that are going on in this parish, even though I know that God will provide! I by my own nature tend to worry. I need to keep reminding myself that worry steals from hope and peace and peace of tomorrow, and that hope and trust in God overcomes worry. When we allow ourselves to get caught up in those things that may never happen, we forget to concentrate on the people and things that are going on right now. When we get stressed about things, we often take it out on people that are around us, most especially those that are closest to us. This is something that we can work on and that will help us with the worry. Even in our busy lives, we can take some time to pray- pray for calmness and peace in our hearts, pray for peace in our world. When I begin to worry about things myself, I remember that if we trust in God everything will work out.

Padre Pio was a saint who had some incredible struggles in his life, but he was also one who had a great saying “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” And also “My past, O Lord, to Your mercy; my present, to Your love; my future to Your providence.” My advice is to Pray, hope, work to change those things you can, and trust that God will take care of the rest.

God bless,
Fr. Ken