Let us look at the following words of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount.
I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more
than clothing?
(Matthew VI, 25).
Here we can see that in a certain sense we need to at least be fed with our souls and at least be clothed with our bodies [1]. The Lord designed it that our souls should be a source of peace and contentment, and our bodies should be a source of beauty.
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Here and further in such reasoning it is not that there is no need to work, but that if even animals and plants that do not have special work grow, develop and are beautiful because the Lord cares for them, the Lord clothes them with that beauty, He created them that way, then will not the people who love the Lord, who are faithful to Him or at least try to be so, who make conscious efforts to obtain certain results, work at it, will not the Lord help them and give them what they really need? [2]
Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his stature?
It should be noted here that these words were most likely addressed to people of short height who wanted to become taller. Becoming taller was very desirable for them, because it would add to their own importance in their own eyes, and they wanted to become taller, rather than add an elbow.
And you can easily see that if you really is anxious, grieving, worrying, you don't change your height much, and you can't really add much to your height by doing so.
These words also indicate that one should not be anxious about one's appearance, because such anxiety will not improve one's appearance, but may even worsen it, because it leads to uncertainty, indecision, and this is not attractive. Moreover, anxiety can also cause changes in metabolism in certain cases, and then it can affect hormonal levels, cause certain undesirable changes, for example, in the condition of the skin (perhaps some rashes or something else, although this is rare). Anxiety is not really necessary. You can conclude that you need to think about how you look, but there is no point, no sense in being anxious about it, because such anxiety and trouble cannot significantly improve your appearance, but can rather worsen it. Let us also recall many saints, many of them were handsome and beautiful, they were not anxious about how they looked.
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [l]arrayed like one of these.
Lest we get the idea from the previous verse that Christ is disregarding outward beauty, He says this. Notice that here the lilies are more glorious than Solomon, the chosen one of God, who was known for having peace and much gold in his time, for having built a temple and a very glorious temple for the Lord, and for being glorious not only in appearance but also in his great wisdom. Here Christ suddenly says that the lily is more glorious than Solomon, God's chosen one. How can this be, because it is the exact opposite of what He had just said, that you are more valuable than grass
. And the thing is that beauty needs to be noticed; if you don't pay attention to the beauty around you, the beauty of ourselves, it often goes unnoticed and seems as if it's not even there. But when you start to look closely, you will see what an immensity of this beauty is hidden where we may not even notice it, because behold, lilies are beautiful because the Lord has put so much into them, into every cell, every cell of their body, they are filled with God's design, God's care, and any researcher, a really good botanist, will tell you that there is a lot in there, their organism is truly wonderful. In the case of Solomon, it is primarily about his clothes: a person takes care of their clothes, makes them partially beautiful, so to speak, but they do not put as much wisdom into their clothes as God put into the lily as an organism. So, if we look at it, the lilies are more glorious, more beautiful in this sense than Solomon's clothes.
Here is a brief glossary of words related to beauty [3].
Beautiful is something that pleases, delights, is good and kind.
Praiseworthy is what is decent, what can be advised to others, what is dignified
Glorious is something that is more than beautiful, that arouses admiration, delight, attracts attention, is manifest, that can have a strong influence on others.
Honorable is something that is special, distinguished, singled out, single, unique, and one of a kind.
Worship belongs to God only. It is the highest expression of service.
Let us remember what Christ said about the lilies of the field: I tell you, even Solomon in all his GLORY did not dress like one of these
(Matthew VI, 29). Lilies are not just beautiful, but glorious.
The heavens and the visible world are filled with the glory of God.
In all this, you can be grateful, blessed and pure.
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
In this, the Lord goes on to speak of inner beauty and eternity. A human being has an eternal immortal soul and is created for eternity, while plants do not have an intelligent immortal soul, they are not created in the image of God. Therefore, of course, God has put much more into people than into lilies.
There is also a certain hierarchy of beauty here: first, the things we consider beautiful, then living nature that does not have an immortal soul, including plants and animals (which is why the efforts of animal rights activists, for example, to not use their fur for jewellery, are very Christian), and then people who are created in the image of God.
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its
own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew VI, 25-34 including the above
citations).
Here, at the same time, there is a paradoxical thought that there is always enough to be anxious and troubled about. What is the Gospel here, what is the good news
? The fact that these issues will be resolved in time. You can see this in the fact that today
is the time when we are anxious about something to solve it, about some issues, and tomorrow
is the time when they are solved, and the fact that it will take care of itself
means that issues are often solved in a way that we cannot foresee in advance, are solved unpredictably.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
06/06/2021 (the Ukrainian original)
It is even more interesting if we look at the etymology of the word tomorrow
in koine Greek (the classical language of the Gospel). It has the same root as fresh wind
and breeze
. Substitute breeze
for tomorrow
and you will see new nuances (I am thinking whether the Lord wants us to consider these nuances as His thought or not). Problems and troubles are compared to the wind, and their solution to a fresh breeze. Then it becomes obvious that there is no real point in being anxious
about them.
Added: 20/06/2022 (in Ukrainian)
The Ukranian original work: Оригінальний твір.