One of the many practical insights of Thomas Cahill's book, Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World before and after Jesus, (New York: Doubleday, 1999), concerns the temptations that Jesus said would keep us from entering the kingdom of heaven.

Wealth and religious hypocrisy were two big ones. "But Jesus was aware," Cahill writes, "that, for ordinary mortals, grinding worry could easily take the place of arrogance and greed" (p. 193; my italics).

Wow. That stopped me in my tracks, I can tell you. I hadn't realized how central the problem of worry was to the message of the New Testament. How much of Jesus's teaching is directed at helping us spiritually tackle this "obstacle to a full life," as Cahill describes it.

I realized that worry indeed nagged at me in all kinds of ways big and small, short term and long term. And I decided to redouble my efforts to stop it.

I took another look at what Jesus said, and I've continued to refer to these words often: "You must not set your heart on what you eat or drink, nor must you live in a state of anxiety. . . . your Father knows well enough that you need such things. No, set your heart on his kingdom, and your food and drink will come as a matter of course. Don't be afraid you tiny flock! Your Father plans to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:29-32; J.B. Phillips translation).

You might say that the kingdom signifies, as Cahill suggests, "a full life." Especially if you consider that Life, with a capital L, is God. Life is the all powerful never-can-die-stop-or-wear-out Principle of the universe. Life/God is the source of everyone's full, enduring, and tangible substance, including happiness, peace, and well-being.

As I see it, what Jesus was saying is that the key is to shift from a depressing anxiety-riddled view of "life" as physical and iffy—where what you need, like success, security, love, or health, can always seem out of reach — to a big-hearted worry-free view of Life as profoundly metaphysical and therefore rock-solid. From this perspective, you see your neighbor and yourself as the beautiful spiritual expression of the divine Spirit. Which means that you already possess — and always will — good and beneficial life-sustaining qualities in abundance.

And I think that Jesus was saying that the practical result of this fundamental thought-shift is that everything you need for a good human life "will come as a matter of course." In other words, by law of cause and effect, you can expect to see your practical needs met as a natural result of this spiritual trust-in-God, metaphysical-type thinking.

Here's an example. It has to do with money (a major source of worry for those of us who aren't dealing with the wealth-will-keep-you-out-of-the-kingdom-of-heaven problem!).

In order to keep up with advancements in my profession, I needed to learn how to use sophisticated software. I tried to do it on my own, but it wasn't working out. I realized that I needed to take a course, but the course was really expensive. I was discouraged. This triggered a whole series of worries—involving money, professional adequacy, my future, and so forth.

Well, I reframed the situation. I knew instinctively that God loved me too much to dash my honest yearning for progress on the rocks of financial lack. I prayed along the lines I've been suggesting here. I turned to the infinite, the one Mind, for comfort and guidance.

After a while, I felt inspired to keep looking into the possibilities. This ultimately resulted in my being invited to attend a special just-announced weeklong session about the software, at a greatly reduced cost — a cost I could easily afford. The course ended up being just what I needed, and the knowledge I gained has been invaluable in my ongoing work.

I think of it this way: A sunbeam can never be separate from the sun, no matter how many clouds there are. And you can never be separate from God, no matter how many passing storm clouds of worry might make you feel otherwise. The divine Spirit is with you, actively supporting you and animating you, giving you compassion, significance, opportunity, and intelligence. Divine Principle is keeping you in flight. Divine Mind is giving you light. Divine Life is breathing peace, patience, wisdom, incentive, promise, and fulfillment into every activity.

Saying "no!" to worry is still more of a goal than an attainment for me. But little by little, I'm learning to say "yes!" to the always-with-me divine presence and power of God that delivers me from fear and lifts me up to "a full life." You can do the same.