I had a lot of comments on the blog about worry.  Evidently there are a lot of worriers out there.  The quote from Luther is pretty popular even though I had never seen it before except in a letter from Sasse.  Anyway, by pure accident I came on this blog and found it very touching.  Her picture of a young dog that stayed with a sick sheep all night is amazing.  She wrote – “I love this early morning photo of one of the white dogs (the pup from last year) staying with the sick sheep.  She left all the other sheep a field away to stay watch over this ewe. Do they whisper to each other in the dark of night? I know the ewe must have had comfort in knowing the dog was right there.  The dog knew that the ewe was vulnerable if she was sick, alone, and afraid.  I don’t know~ I love that dog.”

I can’t download her picture, but two thoughts came to me – the one is the poem “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson in which Christ is portrayed as a hound that never ceases to pursue us with his love.  It is not an easy read.  Here is a review – The name is strange. It startles one at first. It is so bold, so new, so fearless. It does not attract, rather the reverse. But when one reads the poem this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood. As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit. The Neumann Press Book of Verse, 1988.  That relentless seeking if the lost can take the form of watching over them in their sinsickness too.

The other thought of course is the Good Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures and watches over us when we suffer.  Worry is a form of sickness.  Worry can make us suffer sometimes more than the actual thing that we worry about.  “Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you”.

Check out this lovely blog spot.

http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/pray-and-let-god-worry-martin-luther.html.