SER:Care for the morrow  by Kurt H. Asplundh

   "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own evil." (Matt.
6:34)

   The Israelites in the wilderness had a real concern about the
morrow, yet they were absolutely unable to store up extra food. They
were commanded to gather enough manna for their households for a day
and were not to save any for the next day. When some refused to obey
this law and tried to keep extra manna for another day, it turned bad
and became wormy. Only on the sixth day could they gather an extra
ration for use on the Sab- bath day. Otherwise, they were completely
dependent upon the daily appearance of this miraculous food from the
Lord. They had to trust the Lord. They had no other choice.

   This forced way of life with the Jews prefigured the ideal way of
life for Christians. They, too, were to learn trust in the Lord. Note
that what the Jews observed from external compulsion sometimes became a
matter of conscience for Christ- ians. And so, echoing the necessity of
the ancient past, the Lord taught His disciples not to worry about
tommorow. "Do not worry about your life, " He said, "what you will eat
or what you will drink.... Which of you by worrying can add one cubit
to his stature? Therefore do not worry...." (Matt. 6: 25, 27, 31).

   This was a new way of teaching that we should trust in the Lord's
providential care.

   What of us, today? Now, in the Heavenly Doctrine the Lord has
repeated, in yet another way, the same eternal truth for the New
Church. It is still true that we should not worry, that is,have an
anxious concern about our life. What the Lord has added for the New
Church is a rational expression of the truth and a deeper understanding
of what is meant by trust in the Lord.

   The Israelite in the wilderness was forced to trust that the Lord
would care for him. The Lord's disciple felt a personal obligation to
trust his Lord and seek the kingdom of God. The New Churchman, in
addition, is taught how the Lord's providence operates for his
salvation and how he may cooperate with the Lord's leading. He is shown
the nature of Divine order. He can have a rational trust.

   Not worrying about tomorrow means accepting Divine order. It means
being content with our lot in life, and not only that, being content
with the mercy of the Lord.

   There is a clear and beautiful teaching of the Writings about this
matter of worry or care for tomorrow's needs. It seems almost to
contradict the teaching of our text, but actually gives it a new depth
and dimension. So we read: "He who looks at the subject no deeper than
from the sense of the letter may believe that all care for the morrow
is to be cast aside, and thus that the necessities of life are to be
awaited daily from heaven; but he who looks at the subject
deeper...from the internal sense, is able to know what is meant by
"care for the morrow." It does not mean the care of procuring for one's
self food and clothing, and even resources for the time to come; for it
is not contrary to order for any one to be provident for himself and
his own. But those have care for the morrow who are not content with
their lot; who do not trust in the Divine, but in themselves; and who
have regard for only worldly and earthly things, and not for heavenly
things" (AC 8478: 2).

   Note here that the teaching applies to what is truly important in
human life: our spiritual welfare. Often, we are so bound up with
anxiety about natural and material things that we fail to see that the
Lord's greatest concern is for our eternal welfare. Our heavenly Father
knows that we need the things of this world in order to live. He
provides these for us just as surely as He put manna on the ground for
Moses, but in such a way that we have a part in obtaining them. Our
natural concern for providing for daily needs for ourselves and family
is not what the Lord was talking about. We must work and plan for the
future. What we should not have is an anxiety or worry that comes from
failing to trust that the Lord has the ability and the desire to lead
us to heavenly happiness.

   "Very different is the case with those who trust in the Divine, " we
are told. "These, notwithstanding they have care for the morrow, still
have it not, because they do not think of the morrow with solicitude,
still less with anxiety. Unruffled is their spirit whether they obtain
the objects of their desire, or not; and they do not grieve over the
loss of them, being content with their lot.... They know that for those
who trust in the Divine all things advance toward a happy state to
eternity, and that whatever befalls them in time is still conducive
thereto" (AC 8478: 3).

   Yet, having said all this, it is well to note in addition that the
Lord's teaching also applies directly. While it is certain that we
ought not to await a miraculous provision from heaven of all that we
need for earthly life, it is also true that our concern for tomorrow
should be free from anxiety. The Lord does not forbid thought about our
material necessities. What the Lord literally forbids in this text is
"anxious thought." Anxiety and worry are outward signs of an inner lack
of faith.

   We should not expend our energies in anxious thought about what we
may face tomorrow. Our energies should be directed rather to the
faithful and sincere performance of our duties and responsiblities as
they occur day by day. What we do today is providentially in
preparation for tomorrow. And if we have prepared for tomorrow in this
way, with a sincere and industrious effort to do what lies before us
each day, there is no reason to harbor anxious fears about tomorrow. It
is irrational to be anxious about what is beyond our power or control.
Here, however, we are consoled by the Writings. We are told that while
we live on earth we cannot entirely free ourselves from these worldly
concerns (AC 3938: 7). Only the angels have "no solicitude about future
things" (AC 1382). This is mentioned not to excuse our solicitude or
anxiety of life, but to let us know our limitations as earthlings and
so that we are not discouraged when such states recur.

   But whenever possible we ought to try to reduce our degree of
anxiety about the future. This is defined by the angels as "grief on
account of losing or not receiving things that are not necessary for
the uses of life" (HH 278: 2 emphasis mine). Certainly, when a matter
of concern involves something unnecessary we should not allow it to
become so important to us that we grieve over its loss. Why spend
emotional energy worrying about things that do not really matter?

   The text appears to deal with a matter of time: tomorrow. The truth
is that there is no time in matters relating to the Lord and spiritual
life. There is a succession of states of life. These are all
immediately present to the Lord. This is well known to angels of
heaven. "The more interior and perfect the angels are, " we are told,
"the less do they care for past things, and the less do they think of
things to come; and also that from this comes their happiness. They say
that the Lord gives them every moment what to think, and this with
blessedness and happiness; and that they are thus free from cares and
anxieties" (AC 2493).

   The angels live in the present. We, too, must learn to live in the
present to the best of our ability, knowing that the Lord will prepare
us by this for what is to come.

   "Sufficient for the day is its own evil, " we are told. This is what
our concern should be about, the particular states we see in ourselves
at any given time. We must face these and put them behind us before we
go on to a new day. Our strength to do this is from the Lord. To worry
about tomorrow means to lack the trust that the Lord has power to lead
us from state to state toward heaven. It means that we are unwilling to
walk the narrow path of spiritual progress, enduring states of grief or
sadness which may come, or apparent failure in temptation, thinking
instead that we can lead ourselves better than the Lord.

   The conceit that we can lead ourselves to heaven better than the
Lord results in a spiritual condition pictured by the condition of the
overripe manna. It bred worms and stank. So trust in ourselves breeds
both falsity and evil of life.

   The Lord's words in the text are a command to shun an evil. Again,
the Lord said: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed
down with...cares of this life" (Lu. 21: 34). Why should we be careful
to avoid anxious thoughts and worry? Because there is harm in it. "This
care is not only forbidden, " the Writings teach, "but is also
condemned" (AC 8478: 2).

   Reflect upon the harm done by anxious thought. Not only does it
destroy our peace of mind and reduce our usefulness, it does something
more harmful. "The cares of this world...entering in choke the Word"
(Mk. 4: 19). It draws our mind away from spiritual things. Excessive
concern for ourselves and our earthly welfare attacks our faith just as
hatred attacks love. The effect of anxious thoughts was demonstrated to
Swedenborg in the spiritual world. "It has sometimes happened, "
Swedenborg wrote, "that I was earnestly thinking about worldly things,
and about such things as give great concern to most persons.... At
these times I noticed that I was sinking down into what is sensuous;
and that in proportion as my thought was immersed in such things, I was
removed from the company of the angels.... For when such thoughts
possess the whole of the mind, " we are told, "they carry the lower
mind downward, and are like weights which drag it down; and when they
are regarded as the end, they remove the man from heaven..."(AC 6210).

   We are all obliged by the Lord to shun the evil of excessive
concern. We read: "Solicitude about the future, when confirmed by act,
greatly dulls and retards the influx of spiritual life..." (AC 5177).

   What holds true for anxiety about our natural welfare holds true
equally for anxiety about our spiritual state. We should not concern
ourselves with imagined evils, or evils we fear may be hidden within
the depths of our mind.

   It is sufficient for us to face the active evils of our present
state and work to overcome them. Meeting and shunning them one by one
with humility of spirit, with a prayer for the Lord's help, and a
confidence in His Divine power is all the Lord requires of us.

   We make but little progress against the entire hereditary nature. It
is as though we are chipping at cracks in a seemingly impassable
mountain of self-love. Yet, if we do each day the little that is
required in that day, the Lord will care for the rest. "Have faith in
God," the Lord said. "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this
mountain, `Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, ' and does not
doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to
pass, he will have whatever he says" (Mk. 11: 22-23).

   This is the way we are to seek for the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. Then all things we need, both those things of the spirit
and those of the body, will be added by the Lord. "Therefore I say to
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than
food and the body more than clothing? But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own evil. (Matt. 6: 25,
33, 34). Amen.

   Lessons: Exodus 16: 11-26; Matt. 6: 19-34; AC 2493; SD 2190
