Globe Syndicate
for release Friday March 5, 2004
Another Way
by Melodie Davis
Mad Cows
I was driving along a country road and noticed that a number of the cows in
the field beside the road were lined up looking at the fence. Every now and
then one of the cows would charge the fence menacingly. Usually we think of
cows as contented and laid back. What was holding their attention and
provoking such fear? What was raising their hackles? A dog? A deer (also
frequently present along that road)?
Then I laughed. Their fearsome stalker was a madcap paper bag, being blown
along the fence randomly with the wind. They were mad cows—but not the kind
you’re thinking of. They must have though the bag was alive.
How often do we chase after, charge at and ultimately suffer much stress over
items that turn out to be no more than empty paper bags flitting in the wind?
Sometimes we call them straw men: things we think we have to battle, but we
really don’t.
The first one I think of is bad drivers. Now, yes, we need to drive
defensively and be on the lookout for other drivers doing stupid things. But
since we all do stupid things on the road occasionally, when someone makes a
turn without making a signal or speeds up while you are passing, let it go!
Don’t fume for two miles.
Then there’s worry about lawsuits. Too often in this day of out-of-control
litigation, people don’t do the things they should do and do the things they
shouldn’t, out of fear of lawsuits. Should I give that Sunday school kid a hug
who desperately needs one? Oops, might get sued, better not. Should I give my
friend a ride home from school when hers has fallen through? The insurance man
has warned me that her parents might sue me if she gets hurt. So sue me, I’m
for helping out. Two examples and there must be many others. Yes, I know the
threat of lawsuits is real. But don’t let the empty bag of frivolous lawsuits
keep you from doing the right thing.
Then there’s the empty bag of what will other people think. What will people
think if I die my hair? If my son doesn’t have a job? If our house needs
painting? If I buy a red car? These are things you don’t really need to worry
about.
Then there are those who worry so much about health, diet, and exercise they
make themselves sick. Yes, these are all valid worries: but I am struck by how
often those who are super careful about what they eat, staying trim, and
following the latest health guru—then succumb unfortunately and tragically to
cancer or heart disease or something else. Like the old joke about the
80-something guy who gets to heaven and wants to call back to earth to tell
his wife to stop worrying so much about cholesterol: “Heaven is a wonderful
place! Enjoy a little more cheese now and then and you can enjoy it sooner.”
(Of course if you are 50 and your cholesterol is too high, you do need to take
action about it. Not worry, but take action.)
There is the empty bag of worrying excessively about self. My schedule. My
priorities. My family. My goals. How much I’ve had to suffer. Such persons are
always first to tell their stories. Whether married or single, we need to
learn the give and take of considering the needs of others as at least
important as our own.
One of the most famous singles who ever lived has some good advice for us
along these lines: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food,
and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to his life?” (Jesus, circa 30 A.D. Matthew 5: 26-27)
This is not to encourage irresponsibility. Of course we have to work, drive
defensively, be careful to avoid litigation, take due care about our
reputations, and so on.
But just remember that God was watching those anxious, angry cows along the
fence row, too. If God cares about some silly cows, how much more does God
care about you and me?
For our free booklet for Lenten meditation, write for “Squeezing Prayer into a
Busy Life.” Send to: Melodie Davis, Another Way c/o Name\Address of YOUR
newspaper; or e-mail: Melodie@mennomedia.org.
You can also visit Another Way on the Web at www.thirdway.com.
Melodie Davis is the author of seven books and has written her column since
1987. She taught feature writing and has won awards from the National
Federation of Press Women, Virginia Press Women and the American Advertising
Association. She and her husband have three daughters.
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