October 18, 2020

NO SORROW, NO ENVY, NO ANGER

Sirach 30:21-24

Do not give yourself over to sorrow,
And do not distress yourself deliberately.
Gladness of the heart is the life of man,
And rejoicing by a man lengthens his life.
Love your soul and comfort your heart,
And put sorrow far away from you;
For sorrow has destroyed many,
And there is no profit in it.
Envy and anger will shorten your days,
And worry will bring premature old age.

Personal Challenge

Life is comprised of choices. Every thing we do or don't do, every where we go or don't go, ever thing, is boiled down to a choice. Even if something is thrown at us that is completely out of our control, we still must make a choice of how we will deal with this. Sirach points out some very important, life changing, things that we have a choice to make about. There will always be things in our lives that cause sorrow, but we must choose to not give ourselves over to that sorrow. We must choose to not deliberately distress ourselves for there is enough stress in the world already. We must choose to put sorrow away from us, to run from envy and anger, and to not let worry shorten our lives. Doing this will give us a much better life. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Level, have mercy!