Much thinking
is good, but, with much thought inevitably comes a fall into the pit of despair.
The capacities of the mind’s heart are not so easily overwhelmed, but when they
are, great is that collapse!
The shimmering beauty
of the mind rendered obedient to the development of virtue.
The dark disgust of
a mind given over to the realm of evil; the production of hate.
The horrible waste
of a mind sacrificed to the gods of games and recreation in the name of
relaxation — to the ends of nothing.
And the splendiferous
majesty in a mind of the one who hears God’s call for their life and thinks
with purpose to strive for that destiny.
What do we consume
ourselves with in our thought lives?
What is it we spend most of our time thinking
about? Is
it the share price, or the temperature tomorrow, or of delusions of grandeur,
or the sensibilities of space? Is it the glory of God’s creation, how you’ll
get through the week without money, or why life has come to be the way it has?
Maybe it’s the fact of your busyness and tiredness? It could be your unbridled
joy — thankfulness for such a season. Perhaps it’s envying and striving and
cursing that has your cognitive attention. You may just be tired of thinking.
Or it could be that you’ve striven to overcome the propensity to analyse
everything, and you’ve found some strategies that work? Have I nailed it, or is
there something else? You’re obsessed about a relationship issue; something
that’s not quite right, irredeemable, scary, or unjust... perhaps.
The point I’m trying
to illustrate is, if we are to pounce upon the capacity of our thinking to help
us in the way we are going, we need to become aware of the thoughts we are
preoccupied by.
What we think about
most will influence us incredibly.
If we are virtuous
in a feministic way, where we defend the rights of women, if we haven’t handled
our own brokenness we may well be tarred with the wrong brush. We see this
being done and it reinforces our worldview: “Men are pigs.” But if we are a
man, beaten down by a life where “everything goes to the woman,” we are bound
to attract a reputation as angry and obtuse.
What he and she are
broken by, and are still resistant to be healed of, becomes their worldview,
and they come across as damaged goods. And every time they come to be “judged”
they find themselves further and further pigeonholed. They hate what they have
become deep down, but they are equally unable to claw their way out.
It is best to make
our thoughts captive to Christ; to debunk our baggage; to seek his healing
touch.
When our thoughts
become healthy, we begin to nurture a productive self-fulfilling prophesy for
our lives.
What we ponder most
becomes us. Ponder God. Become God’s you.
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment