Each day, I reflect upon a word or a phrase inspired by the readings of the day. I encourage you to do the same and perhaps incorporate that word or phrase into your daily prayer.
Ward off grief from your heart and put away trouble from your presence… (Ecclesiastes 11:10)
WARD OFF GRIEF and PUT AWAY TROUBLE: Often when we or someone we love is going through a difficult time, we are told, “Don’t dwell on it” – i.e.”put away trouble.” That advice is based on the premise that if we allow these difficulties to occupy our every waking thought, we will lose precious time and miss out on the here-and-now. If we “dwell” on it, it will become our dwelling – where we live.
While sound advice, practically it is not easy to accomplish. Most of us are unable to simply turn on or off our pain and anxiety. That is why today’s reading from Ecclesiastes includes additional advice, telling us to “ward off” grief. To “ward off” means to do something to prevent or lessen the pain and anxiety. This is similar to advice elsewhere in scripture that encourages us to “put on Christ.”
The bottom line is, we don’t have to struggle alone. Let’s use this analogy. When the two heavy suitcases we carry become too much to handle, what do we do? Do we stop and take a break and possibly miss our flight (put away trouble)? Or do we give one of the heavy bags to Jesus and with our free hand, take his hand in ours (ward off grief) and continue the journey?
We can miss out on the beauty of our world if we dwell in our pain and anxiety. We must invite Jesus to walk with us and share the load. It will not take away all of our pain, but it will make it manageable. It will buy us time until we can ultimately “put it away.”
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