My worrier
works tirelessly,
always watching,
bracing for bad news,
seeing the possibility of disaster,
and pushing the panic button.

This fearful guardian has wearied me
for as long as I can remember.
But when I discovered,
as Dorothy did in The Wizard of Oz,
that the one doing all this work
was not a formidable figure,
my heart went out to her.
She was just a little girl.

I found her again playing
with her back to me.

She stiffened when she heard my footfalls.
“It’s only me,” I said softly.

I thanked her for working so hard to keep me safe
and asked if she’d like me to take over for a while.

“How would it be if I drew a big circle around you
and made sure no bad thing entered
without my noticing and dealing with it.”

A stuffed mouse poked its nose out from under her knee.
The bear in her hand looked down at the mouse
and said, “That sounds wonderful.”
Then, the monkey in her other hand swung down from the trees.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” he said.

“If anything comes to mind to worry about,
let me know, and I’ll take care of it,” I said.

“She’ll take care of it,” the bear said to the monkey and the mouse.

“Yes, I’ve learned a lot from you.
I will do my best to anticipate and prepare for what scares us.
I’ll make a plan.
You can offer your thoughts
and leave it with me.”

“That would be nice,” agreed the monkey,
surveying the circle I’d drawn.

“Okay then,” she said, looking at me.

In her eyes, I saw
there was much the mouse, bear and monkey
have seen and never told
anyone,
not even me.

In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
–Psalm 4:8 (NIV)

Credits and References:
Photo of girl from PxHere creative commons.
A Circle of Safety by Esther Hizsa,2025.
Mouse in a teacup by KR Alliance. Used with permission

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2025.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2025.  http://www.estherhizsa.com