Just stop it!

I am acknowledging my age. One of my favorite TV shows from days gone by was The Bob Newhart Show (for those of you too young to remember the show you can go to YouTube for a five-minute episode clip).

Bob, as you may know, is a psychologist in the show. In the scene, a woman comes for her first visit. Bob begins by explaining how he bills—five dollars for the first five minutes, and then nothing after that. The woman is thrilled. Bob assures her the session won't go over five minutes.

He asks her to start. She explains that she fears being buried alive in a box. He asks her to say more. The fear, she tells him, extends to other things—being in tunnels, elevators, houses, cars, "anything boxy."

"So basically you're saying you're claustrophobic," Bob states. 

"Yes, that's what I'm saying," she confirms. 

This exchange takes about two minutes. Bob takes another ten seconds or so to empathize with her—how awful it must be to live with this fear.

"It's horrible," the woman says.

"All right," Bob says.  "I'm going to give you two words that I think will clear up everything. Just take these two words and integrate them into your daily life, and you should be fine."

The woman is excited. She asks if she should write them down.

"Oh, you can if you like," Bob says. "But most people have no trouble remembering them."

"Okay," she says, leaning forward.

He asks, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she says.

"Okay, here are the two words." Bob leans across his desk to put his face close to hers, and then screams, "Stop it!"

There are times in our faith journey that God leans into our heart and simply says, “Stop it!” Yes, to stop fearing so much of this life around us and to start trusting in God’s promise through Jesus Christ that “low I am with you always.” In such trust we can enjoy this gift of life.

As we return to our parishes or to new parishes to have a year of new beginnings, remember you can trust God to be faithful because God is already there in the midst of our ministry.  God will neither leave us nor forsake us. It is a simple matter of “Starting It!” Starting to believe what we preach, teach and share as children of God.

Start trusting today.

--Dana Everhart, superintendent, Atlanta Emory District

God Is Still In Control!!

Miss Lladale Carey
Web Content Producer
www.umcgiving.org
lcarey@umcom.org