'Begone, dull care!'

Andrew Wilson

It occurred to me recently how simple and imperative are the words in an old English song:

Begone, dull care!
I prithee begone from me;
Begone, dull care!
Thou and I will never agree.
(Anonymous)

One might even say that those words have a Christly ring about them, and I’ve been using them to remind myself and others of the virtue and value of putting into practice the healing power and principle behind them.

Jesus had similar words to say about “care”—or any burdened, human feeling. For example, in his Sermon on the Mount, he spoke of God’s care for the “fowls of the air” and the “lilies of the field.” And in words almost as firm as the title of that traditional song, he called upon his audience to “take no thought” for aspects of their lives that were already secure in God’s keeping (see Matthew 6:25–33). As the song’s denunciation of burdened care puts it:

Long while thou hast been tarrying here, . . .
But in faith, dull care
Thou never shalt have thy will.

I often sing that ballad and, in so doing, remind myself to be ready to dismiss any sense of dullness or heaviness—or any other feeling of dis-ease—that human busyness would try to impose on me or tempt me to accept as real or God-given about me.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love—be it song, sermon, or Science—blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty” (Science and Health, p. 234). Perhaps my experience with that English ballad falls into this category, showing that inspiration can come to us in sometimes unlikely or unexpected ways.

We cannot be burdened with care or any other discord, without our first letting it into our thinking. All we should be companioning with are God-given thoughts and feelings, those that confirm our unity with Him, and all the lovely spiritual qualities He has given us. This helps us affirm our oneness with—and right to—perfect health, harmony, happiness, and well-being.

The more we practice this, the better and quicker we’ll be at saying, “Begone, dull care!” (or any other discord), and rejoicing in our God-given ability to drive such care away. Forever!

—Andrew Wilson, Morecambe, Lancashire, England

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