Proverb of the Day: An anxious heart weighs a man, but a kind word cheers him up.
Proverbs 12:25
The Meditation: The Cure for Anxiety
Stress is everywhere these days it seems. Go to the grocery store sometime and see it for yourself. It’s etched on the faces of the cashier. It’s scribbled across the brow of the stock boy. It’s colored on most every person that walks through the door. It’s like set of invisible pencils, coloring how we see ourselves and how others perceive us as well. Check it out for yourself! You’ll be surprised.
People today are stressed about everything. The economy and their shrinking pocketbooks, children and their welfare, the president, the wars, the weather! And those are only a few! Stress at home, in our relationships there. Stress in the workplace as job prospects remain uncertain. Stress that follows health problems. Stress that follows reputation. Spiritual stress, emotional stress, physical stress. Stress that follows stress! The list goes on and on.
And these problems are a burden on us...literally! Studies show that stress can actually weigh a person down. It can bend a back. It can cause all sorts of stomach problems. It can twist and change a person, and isolate them in their home. Stress is, as one book describes, an invisible tiger, sitting on your back, watching and waiting to strike. The anxious heart really does weigh a person down.
Stress is nothing new. The people of the Bible struggled with stress. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been in the Bible and it wouldn’t appear in Proverbs. But the book of Proverbs itself has many examples of stress. From...
An anxious heart weighs a man, but a kind word cheers him up.
Proverbs 12:25
To...
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
The book of Proverbs is full of metaphors describing stress and its affect on human hearts.
Personally I like the image of dried up bones to describe the state of people’s hearts today. Bleached white, dried up bones, seems perfect to describe how people are living today. Sit in that same grocery store and watch people enter in. People really do wear their hearts on their sleeves. Some will appear nervous and uncomfortable. Some will seem rushed. Others you will sense a deep longing, a weight and a hunger within them. And others may be happy to be there. All have differing “heart states”, if you will, each one different from the other.
But we have some remedy for that. We have a way to affect the lives of others for the better. Our first proverb calls this power “kind words”, while the later proverb calls it a “cheerful heart.” In any case, how we encounter others will affect their day, neutrally, positively, or negatively.
Suppose we walk up to the cashier, ignore who they are, forget to call them by name, impersonally pay for our items, and leave. We won’t be remembered two hours later. We will have done nothing wrong. A simple transaction was all we came in for. But we will have done nothing right either. Our affect on their day will be neutral.
Or suppose we storm up to the cashier, making demands, growling under our breath. We argue with them, pay little attention to their feelings, and leave, storming out the door. We may be remembered...but mostly in a negative light. And if anything is going wrong in their lives, we will have only amplified its affect.
But suppose we walk up to the cashier, greet them by name(which every one of them has posted on their sleeve.). We notice what they’re wearing, how they look today. We laugh with them, tell them how much we appreciate them, thank them for their hard work, and leave with a smile. How will that have affected them? You guessed it! You will be a positive affect in their life. They might remember you, what you said. Or not. But in any case, you will have made them feel better about themselves and their day. You will have “cheered them up”. You will have been “good medicine” for them. You will have made their day a little brighter.
But more than that. You will have been Christ to them. Our Lord Jesus tells us: “Whatever you do to the least of these you do it for me.”(Matthew 25:40). When you brighten someone’s day you are being Christ to them. You are sharing the love of Jesus with them. And you are helping them through. And whether they know why you did it or not. Whether they realize that you are being kind for the sake of Christ, doesn’t matter or not. You will have brightened their day, warmed their hearts, and reached out in love and compassion toward them.
There’s a song we sing every so often at church. It’s called “Brighten the Corner Where You Are.”
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light a far;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar,
Brighten the corner where you are!
Just above the clouded skies that you may help to clear,
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Tho into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are!
Here for all your talent you may sure fined a need,
Here reflect the Bright and Morning Star;
Even from your humble hand the bread of life may feed,
Brighten the corner where you are!
The songwriter might have jumped right out of Proverbs. For that is the message there too. Use your kind words to lighten hearts and your cheerful spirits to change life for Christ Sake. Amen!
Questions to Ask
1) Think of a time when you were feeling down. Did anyone ever say anything that made you feel better? Worse? How did words affect your life either positively or negatively?
2) When have you reached out in love and compassion to another? Have you seen a change in them? In the way they acted or responded to you? Imagine if you did that more often.
3) If you are feeling down and worn out yourself, where will you find the energy, strength, and positive push to reach out to others?
A Prayer to Pray...
God of the stranger, you encounter us in the least of these that surround us each and every day. Open our eyes that we might see their needs, their hurt and wants. And give us your Spirit that we might share with them the simple words of love and by sharing be changed ourselves, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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