You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I tell you new things, hidden things that you have not known. – Isaiah 48:6 (NRSVUE)
I was listening to an interview with the drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of the Philadelphia band The Roots the other day. The interviewer asked whether he gets anxious before a live show, given how much of an effect even one significant mistake can make in the audience’s experience of the band. Thompson’s answer was something to the effect of, “I’ve come to see anxiety as literally praying for something bad to happen.” What he meant was that anxiety about making a mistake means that your mind is focused on the possibility of a mistake. If you go into a performance thinking about making a mistake, you are more likely to make that mistake. His mindset instead, he continued, is to focus on creativity and possibility.
There are so many interesting things about his statement. First of all, the idea of anxiety leading to the result you fear is a powerful one. I don’t think it covers all instances of anxiety, to be clear – he’s speaking specifically about anxiety about making a mistake. Yet how easily can we fall into that kind of thinking? How often do we focus on the one thing we do not want rather than all of the wonderful possibilities that lie before us? I find it true, too, that we tend to live out what our minds imagine is possible. If our imagination shows us failure, that idea can be like a lure pulling us towards it. If our imagination opens us to something different and new, on the other hand, we are more able to respond to surprises and be grateful for all that goes well.
Another interesting part of the quote is its appeal to prayer. Prayer seems to be understood as a type of visualization, hoping to bring forth from within us a desired outcome. I think there is a component of prayer that allows us to express our good intentions. More than that, though, prayer changes us, allowing us to be shaped in ways we cannot expect. I think Thompson is aware of this aspect (he occasionally talks about his church experiences, while also discussing what it is like growing up in an extended family that is half Christian and half Muslim). One other aspect of prayer, though, is opening us to the possibilities within God that are beyond our imagining and allowing that divine creativity to lead us into the unknown of our lives. A powerful part of the quote about anxiety is that it allows for this understanding, even as I think it is beyond what was intended.
A practice of prayer, then, can lead us from a focus on anxiety about making mistakes in our day. This might be in our work, our daily routines, or even as we serve in worship. Prayer shifts our focus away from us and our limitations and towards the endless possibility and creativity found in God. God can and does do something new and surprising with our days and our activities. In our prayer we may be opened to recognize what God is doing.