Dear Youth
“Darling be patient, it’s easy to break beneath the weight of the earth.” – Noah Kahan (singer/songwriter)
The line from a song that carried me through a difficult period in my life. It was the last year of my childhood, and not nearly half as glorious as I had imagined. I was in my last exam season, struggling with my mental health and some other big changes and far from home. Continually anxious and overwhelmed by how weak and helpless I felt at times to the surging changes in not only my world but the wider world around me. Then, just like that, it all came to a grinding halt. My birthday flashed by the gruelling long journey of studying disappeared like small rocks off the end of a cliff and I found myself sitting in my living room staring at the carpet dumfounded by the amount of free time I had an lack of energy I had to do anything with it.
Maybe recently, you’ve been feeling a little like me. Overwhelmed with the soft silence of summer. You have tonnes of things to do and yet you can’t get yourself to do any of them, which makes you feel guilty but beyond that you feel unnerved. As you step into a new chapter in life, you’re not quite sure what to expect, who to trust or what the future will look like. The future is frightening, and it can be unsettling not knowing what comes next especially when previous surprises and changes caused what seems like more pain than good.
Matthew 6:26 says, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Whether you are religious or not I do believe this verse carries a great deal of wisdom. Nature has no obvious carer and yet she is cared for, literally speaking we don’t see birds or animals going to someone to be provided with food or shelter from rain and yet nature continues to thrive. In the same way, if nature continues to thrive yet we don’t see this and we can see the promise God left us, promising to take care of us then how much more will he do for us?
I don’t know about you but I feel more settled knowing there is someone out there watching out for me 24/7 who will be with me through every trial to hold my hand, comfort me and help me succeed. Maybe, if we have a God willing to do all that then you can take life a little more slowly. That is what I encourage you to do, our society is constantly on the go and it can feel like we don’t have time to even breathe if we wish to keep up but maybe, in the silence of this summer, you can take even just 5 minutes each day to breathe, read a book, go for a walk or do whatever your heart desires. Maybe, you can spend each day making the most of the present moment, enjoying the company you have or the opportunity you’re in because it will all soon be memories, and God has got tomorrow covered so why worry about that?
Be patient, let yourself take life at your own pace, don’t rush to keep up with other people who are on completely different journeys than you but also allow yourself time to rest and heal. Most importantly remember, if something is troubling you so much, give it to God in prayer because he’s got you.
Sincerely,
A healing stranger
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