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All Saints' Day and Other Sermons by Charles Kingsley
page 300 of 337 (89%)

Eversley. 1871.

Matthew vi. 34. "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof."

Scholars will tell you that the words "take no thought" do not exactly
express our Lord's meaning in this text. That they should rather stand,
"Be not anxious about to-morrow." And doubtless they are right on the
whole. But the truth is, that we have no word in English which exactly
expresses the Greek word which St Matthew uses in his gospel, and which
we are bound to believe exactly expresses our Lord's meaning, in whatever
language He spoke. The nearest English word, I believe, is--distracted.
Be ye not distracted about to-morrow. I do not mean the vulgar sense of
the word--which is losing one's senses. But the old and true sense,
which is still used by those who speak good English.

To distract, means literally to pull a thing two different ways--even to
pull it asunder. We speak of distracting a man's attention, when we call
him off from looking at one thing to make him look at something else, and
we call anything which interrupts us in our business, or puts a thought
suddenly out of our heads, a distraction. Now the Greek word which St
Matthew uses, means very nearly this--Be not divided in your thoughts--do
not think of two things at once--do not distract your attention from to-
day's work, by fearing and hoping about to-morrow. Sufficient for the
day is the evil thereof; and you will have quite trouble enough to get
through to-day honestly and well, without troubling yourself with to-
morrow--which may turn out very unlike anything which you can dream.
This, I think, is the true meaning of the text; and with it, I think,
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