The last few days I’ve found myself worrying about the future

And in Christian circles, worrying is a sin. Eek!

Then I start worrying about worrying 

And I’m afraid to speak

Aaahh! The negative thoughts and the self-loathing keep occurring

All I thought I knew becomes unsure 

But then I come back to all the Greats – they said to not be troubled about tomorrow or the next day

When I was 16, I worried about algebra tests

And my dad said something then you’d never expect: “When you’re on your death bed, are you gonna wish you’d studied more? Or that you’d gone with your dog to the shore?”

He was right, that a death bed (whether an airplane seat or a car seat or a hospital bed) will one day materialize 

Back then, I didn’t think much about my own demise 

I studied some, then went to the beach some 

Maybe it was a good antidote 

I see what has become 

The future held for me a job (which thankfully contains no algebra)

And I still go to the beach with my pup a few times a week 

I make an effort to observe the birds and what they hold in their beaks

Jesus said to look at the birds

Yesterday I watched the seagulls, cormorants, pipers 

They were all undisturbed

Still as the bay 

My heart’s greatest desire 

They sat upon the drain pipes as if at a convention – the Chesapeake Bay

How lovely they were 

I felt my anxiety cast away

Did I mention – Jesus also said that God feeds the birds 

A calming reminder are those words 

Echoes of my own dad telling me to go to the beach 

There I’m still, even if the wind rages 

I figure it’s best to let life come in stages 

My dog too, is not worried

About algebra tests, career, taxes, motherhood 

It’s more than a guess: I still know God is good 

He holds the present and future

Just like He holds the bay and the birds 

And me and you

So I go to the beach (you’d benefit too)

And believe that everything will turn out as it should