Worry and Weltschmerz

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:34

Of all the words in the Bible I find these among the most human, perhaps mostly because of the dry, understated nature of the last sentence which reeks of weltschmerz (one of my favorite words).    Having told us not to worry, that tomorrow will worry about itself, that would be the natural end.  But the last sentence is added, and as it is read you can hear it as one of those under the breath somewhat sarcastic comment we (okay, I) tend to add at the end of a bothersome thought – “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Indeed, it does, and there is no need to shift tomorrow’s trouble, whatever it may be, into today’s pile.

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