The Universe Thanks You

(With apologies for the hiatus!)

I was sitting with Jared today, out on the deck, as we talked about how difficulty times have been recently. Like just about everyone in America and, possibly, The World, life has been very uncertain, finances even less predictable and the future a foggy horizon. As Jared got stuck in the middle of the litany of all the things that were going awry in his life, most of which were, for certain, the direct result of his being in residential treatment for addiction.....again. His wife was unhappy, his daughter doing poorly in school, his sister, who was also his business partner, was terrified to run the business alone, a major business deal had fallen through just that morning and the quarter would not be a "winner," and so forth. The list went on and on. About the time all the misery had been enumerated, he launched into all the things he had to worry about: the stock market, the future of his childrens' education fun, his own recovery, whether his marriage would survive, if the pipes would freeze, etc., etc., etc.
About the time I was really needing something wise to say to redirect the conversation, a hand full of Canadian Geese flew gracefully, but noisily overhead and a wonderfully colored sweet gum leaf blew onto the table. My sardonic little smirk arose, as I asked, "Did you notice all the little 'Thank You' Notes?"
His puzzled look let me know he had not gotten my point. I explained, "Don't you see all the little 'Thank you' Notes? The geese, the leaves, the beautiful sunset, the swirling pattern in the clouds? They're all little thank you notes from your Higher Power, thanking you for worrying about how to make the universe work!"
Slowly, a smile came to his face.
The Universe Thanks You!

So many times in our hectic work days, we get so lost in the "things" we "must" do and get done. We worry about what will happen and how we will finish this and that, and so many things that will end up how ever they will end up regardless of what we do. I like the definition of worry as "ingratitude in advance." Like so many of us, when Jared was wrapped up in his worry, he was losing sleep, eating erratically, acting grumpy, and missing out on so much around him.
In my mind, somewhere the Creative Force that keeps this universe in such perfect balance (remember, a matter of one digit of degrees off its axis and the earth would both fry and freeze) is both chuckling and shaking its metaphorical head. I also imagine that, in an effort to get simple-minded folks like me to see how fruitless worry is, this same Force (God, Higher Power, Spirit, whatever) sends an amazing array of "Thank You's." They are everywhere -- the swirling clouds, the magical colors in the fall leaves or the spring flowers, a butterfly, the migrating ducks and geese, the sunrise or sunset, or a rainbow. All are little "thank you's" from the universe around us and reminders that worry is you and me trying to do things that humans can't do. Things like trying to change the future or change a mind or change the past. Things like staying awake to feel more rested or not eating to feel less hungry. Things like feeling unending shame about mistakes we cannot undo so we can feel better about ourselves. Things like leaving fourteen messages with someone who told us to leave them alone so they will call us back.
We cannot make flowers out of soil and water. We cannot (yet) calculate all the parts or any theories of relativity or quantum theory or whatever theory we will come up with next to explain things we can't yet explain. That is not our talent, nor is it our job. However, when we worry and do all these things, we live in a gracious universe. We live in a universe that uses frost to make peaches and tulips. We live in a universe that uses lightning to start forest fires so that forests can change and grow stronger.
Grace is mysterious. Likewise, mystery is all around us. Check it out next time you find yourself wrapped in worry -- look for the little "Thank You's." They will be there. Trust me. They will be all around.
The Universe Thanks You!