CHILDLIKE ASPIRATIONS- Why worry?

“Your father knows that you need them!” Luke 12:30.

Another month has gone by. I see my salary slip and wonder how we’ll pull through these 30 arduous days. How will our needs be met? In the same mood of dejection, I look at the calendar. MD entrance exam is only few months away. There is tons of material to be read and assimilated. Will I be able to get into ‘the dream of my life’ this year? What do the professors think of me? Am I good enough? I look into the mirror. I get sad about my frame. Why am I losing hair? My waistline is just bulging beyond redemption! Thoughts take me into a downward spiral of worry and anxiety. 

My daughter next to me keeps playing with plastic toys that squeak on pressing their bellies. She squeezes them with all her might and the sound that follows exhilarates her. She does it again and again. Suddenly her expression changes from wonder to pathos and then to almost inconsolable sorrow. Her wail is no less pricking than a Shakespearean tragedy. That cry is an emergency siren at our home. Suddenly my wife jumps up to get a bottle of milk. I life her up, take her to the bath tub with running water to offer my share of help. As always,mom Alice comes up with the right diagnosis. Amita is hungry. We work like a pit stop team at F1 Grand prix. And the milk bottle is in my daughter’s mouth in record time. Her straining vocal cords are put down to rest and so is her flood of tears. In a few moments, she is asleep and the warzone becomes a peaceful abode again.

As I lie next to my offspring, some thoughts spring up my mind. Children don’t worry. They don’t know how their needs will be met. Only that their needs are always met. My daughter doesn’t know the dynamics of milk making. She does not know the price of the Nestle supplement. She does not bother how the water has to be boiled, bottles micro waved and  proportions to be mixed. When she needs milk, she cries. Her puerile mind does not worry about how many times she is drinking and that eating too often will exhaust the food supplies. She only knows one thing. Ask and it will be given to you. At nights her care free nature reaches new heights. She sleeps cozily next to her mom and when hungry, she does not even open her eyes. In that deep slumber’s sedation, she asks for food and it is given. 

I see immense faith displayed in the behavior of children. They are just so careless in the care of their parents. For them the only thing that matters is- ‘I need something and my mom will give it to me'. No matter how naughty I am, how much food I spill on the floor and how much I vomit out, when I need my mom will take care’. We as adults want to be in the control of our lives. I must strive to meet my own needs. What most of the times causes worry are not the issues that matter today. It is only about tomorrow, the next year and the next decade. In the desire to get tomorrow in control, we let the joy of living today slip away.

Jesus talked about worry at length. It surprises me that people 2000 years ago with simple also had their own set of worries. We are a more complex generation. Our worries span from Facebook profile to the operating version of our android phone. Jesus made it clear that by worrying we cannot add an inch to our stature. We cannot add an hour to our life. He talks about birds and lilies, that have everything given to them and He ends by saying that we as human beings are more valuable than them.

The kingdom of God about which Jesus described feature interesting people. It will have people who have moved from worry-centered lives to faith-centered lives. They are people who live joyful lives today having faith that their Heavenly father will meet all their needs. It is a radical shift of focus from our abilities to God’s character. It is about His love than our situations. I look into my own life and see many needs and desires. I look around and see friends and family who are awaiting the milestones of marriage, their first baby, jobs and settlement. Worry abounds and chokes the abundant life that we are entitled to. But when I look at children, I think they give us a clue to how we ought to live.

What surprises me all the more is Alice knows when Amitha is hungry. It is not just Ammu’s cry but Alice already makes things ready for a prescribed time. Alice keeps banana puree for lunch at 12 pm and dinner of  Dal at 8 pm ready even before our daughter cries. Alice knows when she’ll sleep and when her next cry for food will be. 

 God knows what we need. Even before we ask Him, He knows what we require. So rather than getting worked up about our needs, God is asking us to focus on Him. The Kingdom of God is not about our needs but about His righteousness. Jesus ends that marvelous passage in Luke 12 by stating-‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you’. 

So Jesus’ recipe for worry seems to be two fold. One is to change the life of worry to life of faith. The other is to focus on God and the life He wants us to live which in turn will end up meeting all our needs. You want to see some people like that? Look at kids around! They are closer to the Spirit of the Kingdom. No wonder Jesus said regarding children-‘It is to these, the kingdom belongs’.