Episode Transcript  

One

Prepping

As you probably know, some people out there are “preppers.” They want to be ready for any disaster that might strike: government shutdown, economic shutdown, infrastructure shutdown, you name it. They look ahead, think about whatever awful thing might happen in the future, and try to get ready for it. But what’s interesting is that Jesus doesn’t really advise a strong focus on material preparation for the future. 

On the contrary, listen to what He says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek all these things… Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, leave tomorrow to worry about itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

Trying to prepare for the future is usually unproductive for two reasons: We don’t know what the future will be, and God doesn’t give us the grace to face it until it comes.

Two

We Don’t Know the Future

We should try to understand what can be understood, try to know what can be known. And the future’s the least knowable thing there is. We can know the past. We can know the present, because it’s right in front of us. No one can know the future. So why even try?

When we worry about the future, we are investing time and thought and energy in infinite possible futures that just won’t happen. In fact, sometimes we worry about contradictory outcomes. We worry about a government shutdown and a government takeover, which can’t both happen. Or we worry that we’ll die of cancer and of a heart attack, which also can’t both happen. In other words, anxiety about the future is irrational because we’re worrying about what we can’t know, what won’t happen, and often enough, what can’t happen. And that is a huge waste of time and energy.

Three

God Gives us the Grace for Today

Another problem with worrying about the future is that you’re trying to deal with challenges God hasn’t yet given us the grace to confront. God is very clear: He gives us what we need when we need it. He allotted to the Israelites one day’s worth of manna and He didn’t want them to take more. He has instructed us to pray for our daily bread, i.e., enough help and support for this day, not more.

God will not give you grace for something you don’t have to deal with now, and that maybe you won’t ever have to deal with. And that’s potential future trials. And you can’t properly respond to anything without God’s grace. Therefore, it follows that you can’t properly respond to potential future trials now. So don’t try to get a firm handle on the future, you don’t have the necessary information or the necessary grace.

Four

Being Prepared Internally

A prepper is someone who tries to guess the future and be physically prepared. And usually, because that preparation is based on guesswork, it doesn’t really count for much. A quarter century ago, a bunch of people got their powdered milk and beef jerky for Y2K, and they didn’t need it. About five years ago, people started desperately stocking up on food and medicine, and toilet paper for the COVID-19 lockdown, and it turned out, grocery stores and pharmacies stayed open.

That’s not the focus of a Christian. The committed Christian is actually more prepared than any prepper, because the Christian is prepared internally, not externally. The Christian works to develop a sense of trust in God and detachment from needing things to be a particular way. And no matter what the situation, no matter how dire or how unexpected, trust in God and detachment will equip you to handle it. 

It’s the only way to prepare for any contingency, and to know you’re not wasting your time.

Five

Do what you know today and let God take care of tomorrow

The future is always uncertain. We can’t know it, and God hasn’t given us grace to handle it yet. So why waste our strength worrying about it? What we do know is today, and God has given us grace for this day. So do today’s work: pray, go to Mass, serve, labor, love, rest, eat, rejoice in friends, take care of your responsibilities. That’s the only “prepping” that really matters.

Leave tomorrow in God’s hands. When it comes, He’ll give you what you need, just as He gave the Israelites manna each morning. That is the Christian way to prepare: not by stockpiling things for imagined disasters, but by practicing abandonment to Providence, trusting God today, and tomorrow, and forever.

If you enjoyed this meditation, subscribe below.