To be alive is to have hope.
I worry that that hope may not be realized or may be delayed.
Humans are suffering beings because this kind of thing keeps repeating itself throughout their lives.


It was around the beginning of last fall that I began to delve into the topic of worry.
The worries I didn't like were neither mine to embrace nor mine to reject.
It wasn't something I wanted or something I didn't like, but it was something that wasn't me, and it was like it was a part of me.
When I was worshipping, I didn't move, and when I was praying earnestly, I quickly hid in the cave of my heart and waited for my prayer to end.

I always wondered what the worry was all about.
Then a decision came to my mind.
'Even if I can't completely erase you from my mind forever, I need to see your true face.'

In fact, it was my strong faith that said those words, and my weak reason that heard them. Both were within me, a self that was familiar yet unfamiliar, and also unfamiliar yet familiar.
So this book is also a story of my journey, starting from my own lack of faith, to reaching God's embrace with faith and love, finding rest, and returning to myself in peace.

I wrote this book with many tears and prayers.
This was because of a rebuke for my weak faith, which was worrying, and also because of my resentment for my ignorance in not knowing how precious I was to God the Father.


A single word took my breath away.
“You are so solemnly honored.” These were words spoken not only to me but to everyone.


The fact that God gave birth to me and allowed me to live here and now because He wanted me to be better than anything else in the world, and that I am in the embrace of God's love that began before the ages and will continue to eternity.
Since I was born into this world, I had never received such love from anyone, someone who treated me with such solemn respect, even when I hated it at times, and (this hurt me even more) the fact that I had never loved anyone like that.
And yet, it struck me that you were in an infinite love that envelops the boundless expanse of the universe and returns to yourself.


I started writing in the winter when white snow fell like flower petals, and I put down my pen on a spring day when cherry blossom petals were fluttering like white snow.
At a time when many people are concerned about the unexpected outbreak of infectious diseases, this book, like all of us, was born with a reason to exist.
Read this book and overcome your worries.
--- "Author's Preface.
From "You are solemnly noble"

Worry is an emotion that comes from anxiety.
Existentialist philosophers believed that humans confirm their existence through anxiety.
Humans are anxious beings because they have no basis for defining themselves and are susceptible to changing into anything.
[Omitted] According to their argument, humans have no other being that defines them, so it is entirely up to them to give meaning to their own existence.
That means you have to take full responsibility.

No one wants to live in anxiety.
But many people are anxious and worried.
Sometimes these worries don't just lead to worry; they lead to fear, and in extreme cases, despair.


When a believer's heart is in this state, all the beautiful things God has given him lose their light.
Awareness of the mission given by God, the meaning of daily life, and the value of human relationships disappear.
And you become in a state of mind where you cannot bear the weight of your own life.

Disloyalty to God does not only arise from great sins.
It often comes from worry and anxiety (Luke 19:21).
So we must learn to identify worry and become free from it.


The meaning of worry

Christ's teaching on worry begins with a word about wealth.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…” (Matthew 6:19).
This passage can be interpreted to mean that we should not be greedy and accumulate wealth on this earth.
But when we consider the conclusion of this context, we can see that this is not simply about accumulating wealth.
It is a teaching to live a life that is more meaningful than enjoying material things.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33).


God has given all believers the mission to live by seeking God's kingdom and righteousness.
But there is a greatest enemy that prevents us from living up to this mission.
It is not external factors like tribulation or persecution, but the anxiety that lies within that person.
Biblically, anxiety can be broadly divided into two types.


First, it is a legitimate concern (Matthew 5:25, 13:29).
The experience of suffering creates fear, and anxiety creates a sense of vigilance at the thought that that fear might become reality.
We obey traffic signals and are careful not to slip on snowy days out of concern for safety.


These are legitimate concerns that lead us to act honestly toward ourselves and rightly and fairly toward others.
However, we should not think that our efforts are a complete solution to our worries, lest we treat our worries unjustly, even if they are legitimate, and thus harm our piety.
We must prepare for situations that may cause concern, but shouldn't God be the only one we can rely on?

Anxiety about spiritual things is also included in legitimate anxiety (1 Corinthians 7:32, 9:27, 2 Corinthians 11:28).
Godly concern includes concern for one's own piety, the spiritual prosperity of the church, the expansion of God's kingdom, and the souls of our neighbors.
We must strive and work for this work, but we must rely not on our own works but on the grace of God who uses them.


Where do worries come from?

Where does worry come from? We often ask someone who's overly anxious about something, "Why are you worrying about that?"
We can say this because we are not obsessed with what that person is concerned about.
Because I don't love it.


People who love something worry because they might not get it, or because they fear losing it.
So to be concerned about something is to love it.

Concern comes from self-love (amor sui).
And self-love comes from pride (superbia).
Because self-love stems from the superiority of the intellect that judges that it is right to love oneself rather than the ultimate object of love.
'Self-love' is born from the unity of the will to love oneself and the intellect that judges oneself to be right, and because of this, we live with worry as if it were our fate.

--- 「Chapter 1.
From "Where Does Anxiety Come From?"