Relax, No Worries

Reflections from the Heart of Allan Redenius
 
Once upon a time in pre-pandemic times, Armona and I took a cruise.  You know the kind.  You want to get away from everyone, so you book a cruise with 5,000 other people who want to get away from everyone. 😊 Here’s one good thing about being with that many people, you don’t have to worry how you look in a swimming suit!  You’re never going to see any of those people ever again.  I saw all kinds of people in swimming suits.  Have you ever wished you could just “unsee” some things? 😊
 
If you’ve been on a cruise, you know the cruise line stops at various ports of entry.  There you can sign up and take various sight seeing excursions at that stop.  At this one island, we signed up to go to this picturesque beach.  Our first clue of danger was the bus.  Not air conditioned, on a hot, hot day, no shock absorbers to smooth the ride over a road that wasn’t there, brakes that squealed like iron pressing on iron to slow us down, a bus driver who must have been at least thirteen as he kept saying, “Relax, no worries, man.”  We even stopped for chickens crossing the road.  Zig, zagging, down this non-existent road, I began to worry.  We’ve got to get on this bus to go back.  After a time, the driver did get us to our beautiful beach for an afternoon of snorkeling and relaxing in the sun.
 
Now if you know me, I don’t like being out of control of my circumstances.  All afternoon, in my “relax mode,” my brain was painting all these “what if” scenarios.  What if our driver disappears?  What if the boat leaves without us?  No doubt about it, I was not in control of my whereabouts.  I needed that thirteen-year-old bus driver to get us back to where we began.  I needed the rickety old bus for transportation.  
 
You know, life is sometimes like that afternoon adventure.  The ride, daily life, is sometimes not so great.  Though the ride might be hazardous, sometimes life is punctuated with a few good spots along the way, like the beautiful beach.  But too often, when we are in that sweet spot, we don’t enjoy it because we worry about the rest of our life.
 
Like our young bus driver said, “Relax, no worries,” so I think we should follow his advice.  Better yet, take this advice form Jesus in Luke 12:25. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”  Did Jesus just say, “Relax?”
 
Taking life as it comes,
Pastor Allan
© 2021 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved