If you recognize young Alfred, then you probably also know that his signature phrase is, "What, me worry?" The phrase sort of capsulizes the zany comedy in Mad magazine, along with suggesting a carefree, possibly irresponsible attitude about life, focused on finding the humor in any situation. It does that effectively, I think.
If you know me at all, then you know that for most of my life I have been the antithesis of Alfred E. Neuman. Although I do look for the humor is situations, and often find it, avoiding worry has never been my strong suit. My signature phrase might have been, "What, me not worry?"
I have always been goal-oriented and have taken my responsibilities seriously. I have always planned my life and how I think it should go. These are not necessarily bad qualities, but the problem I had was that I tried to plan and take responsibility for things I could not control.
In a blog I wrote in 2013, I talked about how my illusions that I had about a safe, certain future were shattered when I was laid off from my job. That experience was devastating for me, because it forced me to face the fact that it didn't matter how much I planned or shouldered my responsibilities, unforeseen things were going to happen in my life that were outside my control. Some of those things would be bad. Part of what I had to cope with when I was laid off was stress and worry about the future. Somewhere in my psyche, I realize now, was the belief that it would be irresponsible of me not to worry. If I wasn't worrying about the future, then somehow I wasn't the capable, take-care-of-things guy that I believed I was. Those ideas were positively reinforced when I was called back to work less than two weeks after the lay-off. If I hadn't been worried, maybe that wouldn't have happened, or so I thought.In a more recent blog, I wrote about the ultimate result of that 2013 lay-off, the decision my wife Dana and I made to leave Oklahoma and move to Missouri to be near our kids and grandkids. That decision recently led me to another lesson, which was that sometimes you don't get to see what happens next. Your plans don't work out, and you have to trust God. You have to take a leap of faith.
So, I took the leap, and now I'm in Missouri without a job. And the surprising thing is that I am less like that planning, worrying guy that I used to be and more like Alfred E. Neuman. Although I will never replace Alfred as Mad magazine's shining example of the carefree non-worrier, I am not worried about finding a job. I am not worried about the future. And, surprisingly, I don't feel guilty or irresponsible that I am not worried. I am spending my time enjoying my family, taking it easy, and applying for jobs.
I am not usually a big fan of most church marquees. A lot of them are somewhere between lame and unbelievably hostile and unloving. But the other day when I was driving home from a lunch date with my son (how cool it is to be able to do that!), I saw a marquee that spoke right to my heart. What it said was so profound to me, and gave me such encouragement to keep doing what I'm doing and to avoid the temptation to worry.
It said: Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need.
Whoa! What an awesome reminder that I have so much to be thankful for, that God has brought Dana and me to this place, and he knows I need a job. I don't need to worry, I just need to trust.
Just in case I needed another reminder, today when I was driving home from my morning swim, I heard a song by Unspoken that fits well with that church marquee I saw the other day. The lyrics of that song include these words:
And you may never know what your tomorrow holds
But you can know that I am holding your tomorrow.
What, me worry?
Copyright © 2015 by Steven W. Fouse
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