Do you ever wonder why we worry? I do. I mean it’s not like the act of worrying helps ward off trouble or anything. So why then do we do it? I was reading this morning in Melody Beattie’s A Journey to the Heart, and she suggests that worry is a form of self-punishment and not trusting. So I wonder to myself what is the purpose of worrying? Apparently nothing productive. Worrying is the just the act of manifesting our fears. “We get so caught up in our fears that we don’t take the responsible steps we need to take. By neglecting our lives due to worry and fear, we may bring needless consequences upon ourselves”, says Beattie. I was once told that what we focus on is what grows, so if worrying is the act of focusing on our fears maybe its power to make us feel better is just a self-concocted illusion that is really self-defeating. So why then is worrying so often our first line of defense? Why wouldn’t praying be a first line of defense instead? Is worrying just an aversion tactic to avoid praying? Do we have so little humility, that we would rather worry than get down on our knees? Is it only by drinking the poison of worry that we can be grateful for the grace of prayer?