“Do not worry, do not be anxious” are messages found in Christian scripture. Say that to me and it’s like saying “don’t think about elephants.” But I’ve come to realize the difference between concern and worry.
Concern leads me to constructive action. Worry or anxiety is just the hamster wheel. Round and round I go, exhausting myself emotionally and spiritually.
A few years ago, I participated in a weeklong spiritual retreat, where I focused on getting rid of anxiety. It had become a factor in my life that no longer seemed appropriate. I grew up in an anxiety-producing family, and had anxiety-fostering careers. Now retired, I’m involved with some important and meaningful projects, but they aren’t really anxiety-producing.
The world is full of difficulty, struggle and tragedy, none of which I can help relieve if I’m full of anxiety. I wanted to shed my old and energy-draining habit.
Twenty years ago, I acquired a little voice to help me cope when I felt overwhelmed by events beyond my control. It was the voice of TV cartoon character Bart Simpson saying, “Well don’t have a cow, lady!”
Over the years I’ve heard that voice many times, calling me back from the edge of a meltdown. At the retreat, I wanted to discover a better voice with a more sacred message to calm and guide me.
A spiritual practice instructed me to go into the countryside to find a creature that seemed to facilitate my access to God. But the meadow was devoid of life. High up the trail I stepped into a clearing and there it was. There was no doubt that this creature was there for me. It was big. It was reddish-brown. It was a cow.
And I heard a little voice that was not Bart Simpson’s, saying, “You want to have a cow, have a cow!”
The message I received from the “Holy Cow” was to stop taking myself so seriously. The baggage of anxiety needs to be checked at the gate.
How to check that baggage? Give forgiveness to others; accept it for myself. Laugh often, especially at myself. And when life gets tough, let “Holy Cow!” connect me to God’s grace.
