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over-solicitude which burdens and benumbs the heart, and saps energy from brain and liand, and makes men forget that God is over them, and will provide for all the exigencies of their lives.
^ The word " careful," used in the Authorized Version, " Be careful for nothing," has somewhat changed its meaning since that translation was made over three hundred years ago. We use the word to describe that wise prudence and thoughtfulness which is the plain duty of man, a being possessed of a reasonable soul " looking before and after." But originally " careful " had a different meaning. It meant to be burdened and fretted with care. It had much the same meaning as we express now by the word " careworn." ^
1. The prevalence of anxiety. — There can be little doubt that we belong to an anxious and careworn generation. Never was the world so rich in material things, never did it possess so many mechanical appliances for lightening human tasks and toils. But as the world grows richer, it seems to grow more and more anxious. And while steam and electricity, and all that extra- ordinary development of machinery and locomotion and means of communication to which they have led, have multiplied our powers enormously, they seem also to have multiplied our cares. They increase the speed at which we have to move, the high pressure at which we have to live, the dangerous complexity of the social organism of which we form a part. It reminds one of the old tale of Frankenstein's monster. Doctor Frankenstein, through his wonderful knowledge of chemistry and biology, was able to put together the figure of a monstrous man, and to galvanize it into life. And then this dreadful creature of which he was the author became the haunting terror of his own life, almost driving him mad by its tyranny, and at last tragically cutting short his days. And sometimes it almost appears as if the tremendous powers of nature which man has summoned to his aid, and infused into the great fabric of modern civilization which he has gradually built up, were threatening to become our masters and our tyrants, instead of our willing servants. Certain it is that life is not so plain and simple as it used to be. The burdens of existence and duty seem to grow heavier and heavier ; and at the same time the men and women of to-day seem to be getting more nervous and
' J. C. Lambert, The Omnipotent Cross, 142.
426 THE ANTIDOTE TO ANXIETY
highly strung than those of other generations, and less able to bear their burdens calmly and silently and patiently. Thus, on every hand, we are told that nervousness and worry are amongst the chief banes of modern life ; and that it is worry, and not work, that wears out so many people before their time.
^ The things that never happen are often as much realities to us in their effects as those that are accomplished.^
The heart which boldly faces death Upon the battle-field, and dares
Cannon and bayonet, faints beneath The needle-points of frets and cares.
The stoutest spirits they dismay —
The tiny stings of every day.
And even saints of holy fame.
Whose souls by faith have overcome,
Who wore amid the cruel flame The molten crown of martyrdom,
Bore not without complaint alway
The petty pains of every day.
Ah ! more than martyr's aureole,
And more than hero's heart of fire,
We need the humble strength of soul Which daily toils and ills require.
Sweet Patience, grant us, if you may,
An added grace for every day.
2. The folly of anxiety. — It accomplishes nothing and it weakens us and wears us out.
(1) It accoviplishes nothing. — There would be some justification for anxiety were there any good in it, but there is not. Nothing is accomplished by it. The train does not arrive a single minute earlier because one goes to the station an hour before it is due ; and the long waiting is only tenfold longer and more dreary if we fancy that our expected friend is surely sick or that some accident has occurred. If there is an encouraging word to be spoken, or a helpful deed to be done, let us speak or do ; but to sit still, and paint pictures of disaster, and forecast ruin to friends and enter- prises, does not help forward anything.
^ Charles Dickens.
PHILIPPIANS IV. 6 427
I have learned, as days have passed me,
Fretting never lifts the load; And that worry, much or little,
Never smooths an irksome road; For you know that somehow, always,
Doors are opened, ways are made; When we work and live in patience
Under all the cross that's laid.
He who waters meadow lilies
With the dew from out the sky, He who feeds the flitting sparrows,
When in need for food they cry, Never fails to help His children
In all things, both great and small; For His ear is ever open
To our faintest far-off call.
(2) It weakens and wears one out. — Charles Kingsley well says : " Do to-day's duty, fight to-day's temptation, and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them." Under a habit of anxiety the body loses its vigour, the mind loses its tone, the will loses its force, and the heart loses its resiliency and sweetness. The innocent old farmer who wound up his alarm clock and fixed it to go off at six in the morning, and then sat up all night so as to be sure to hear it when it struck, but who was so exhausted by his tedious vigil that when the morning came he could not start on his projected journey, is a fair illustration of the mischief done to one by extreme anxiousness. Generals fight better; business men handle their business more successfully; teachers get more into and more out of their pupils ; mothers conduct their households with greater ease and satisfaction, if they do not let any of their energies run to waste in anxiety.