An Untamed Mind

Sometimes it feels like my brain is a tangled ball of snakes. My thoughts all wiggle and squiggle together. It is hard to know which thought to grab. Several years ago, I read an article (I don't remember where) that listed the symptoms of ADD. I remember telling Delia that I had 9 out of the 10 symptoms. I would describe my mental life in simple terms: distracted, unfocused, squirrel. Okay, that last one was a joke.

There is something beautiful about a mind that make a dozen different connections in a matter of milliseconds. There is a kind of poetic fluidity to thoughts that intersect along your brain's neuro-pathways. A thought is introduced, a connection made, and bang the wheels of your mind are whirling at the speed of light and in a matter of moments you have traversed the span of the universe of your mind.

The downside of making multiple connections in rapid succession is that it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. It is frustrating when a conversation causes your brain to take a turn, and another, and another, and so on, only to find yourself unable to remember what you were talking about in the first place. Sometimes I find myself on the far side of the universe of my mind, and I can't remember how I got there or how to get back.

I have given up on taming the beast. I'm not certain the human mind should be one tracked. It is helpful, at times, to be able to zero in on one thing--a project, a task, a conversation--but the mind seems designed to process multiple things at once (hearing, seeing, etc.). The mind seems geared to interact with and react to information. It might be detrimental to become overly focused.

While I don't think I can tame my mind, I am certain that I can train it. I have been training it for years. For example, I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, even though the films are about three hours long (the extended versions are even longer . . . and better). However, watching 15 minutes of the news grates my nerves. I can't think of a time when I watched the news without thinking: "Why would anyone watch this?". My point is watching a three hour movie should be harder to do than watching a 30 minute news program, but it isn't in my mind.

One of the keys to training a mind is to connect what your doing to what you value. To put it another way: do what you love and love what you do. Staying focused during a conversation may be naturally difficult to you, but consider the person to whom you are talking. Are you showing them care and respect? Are you learning something new? How is going to move you closer to your goals? Will it reinforce your values?

Meditation is also important. I don't mean the empty-your-mind so often reference in our culture. I mean the biblical kind in which you fill your mind with things worthy of thinking about. While it certainly includes Scripture, Philippians 4:8 seems to widen the scope of our meditation.

The next time someone or something starts moving through the briar patch of your mind and flushes out a rabbit, observe it for a moment. If it is worthy of thought, chase it. It has been my experience that God will use a stray thought to draw us closer to him. However, I should warn you that the devil uses stray thoughts, too. How do we know the difference? Why not spend some time thinking through and praying over Philippians 4:8. It is a great place to start.

I have heard that there are some animals that can't be domesticated. I think the mind should be in the category. You can train a tiger or a lion to do tricks, but at the end of the day they are still not tamed. Train your mind so that it can perform at the crack of the whip (that is, when it is necessary), but don't worry that it isn't tame. It might just be wild by design.

I'm Back

Yesterday was my first post in nearly six months. I didn't intend for the break to last so long. But I trying to find something to say, or at least worth saying. I can't say that I have succeeded, but the silence was growing weary for me. I found myself at the crossroads of do-I-continue and it-is-time-to-say-goodbye. I wasn't ready for goodbye. I think there is still some good yet to come.

For those of you who have waited around, I hope this year will prove worth it. I wanted to give you a road map for the coming year. I still don't know what all I'll be blogging about, but I plan on making at least one new post a week. Theology, education, orphan care, and family will all be on the menu, as will other things.

So, for the foreseeable future, I'm back. As always, your comments are welcome (unless you happen to be a spammer). I hope this year is fruitful.

Happy New Year

New Year’s Day. Another year is in the history books; a new year looms before us full of hope and potential. New Year’s Day can be a time of reflection, a time for planning. What has been is past and what will be is not yet known. It is safe to say that the coming year will be punctuated by moments of joy and sadness, laughter and tears, ups and downs. On the whole, there will be a lot of everyday sort of living. But the measure of this year will rest primarily on you. How will you approach this coming year?

Some people will make resolutions. They will decide, here and now, what they will have accomplished in the next 365 days. They want to lose weight, read more, eat healthier, learn a new language, etc. So they declare their intent in the form of a resolution. Most of them will fail to accomplish their stated goal. Someone said 80% of all resolutions fail by Valentine’s Day, but don’t let that discourage you—20% make it.

I’m not advocating New Year’s resolutions, but I’m not opposing them either. You are more likely to succeed at achieving a goal that is written down and shared with others. People with clearly stated (and written down) goals are much more likely to succeed. This is a situation in which the fear of embarrassment works for people. Once they have committed to a documented course of action, they run the risk of embarrassing themselves. That fear drives them to pursue the goal.

What I am suggesting is that we learn to embrace the new. Let go of past regrets and the lies that have held you in bondage. As Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17, NIV). Jesus is making all things new, including you.

The simple truth is neither you nor I can change one thing from the past. We can experience forgiveness, but it is beyond our power to undo our mistakes. With that in mind, I have one resolution: Through faith, I will dwell in the grace of God, in every circumstance, throughout the coming year.

I hope this resolution serves me well. It is a bit broad, but it is intended to cover the scope of my life. I have weight to lose, books to read, sermons to prepare (and preach), classes to teach, papers to write, etc. I could take the time to make resolutions that would address each area of my life, but the one resolution serves my purpose.

In all that I face in the coming year, I want to face it in faith. I want to rely on grace. I tried to go it on my own, in my own power and strength, but that has left me frustrated, discouraged, and tired. In the upcoming year, I hope to labor, by his grace, in the Lord’s strength. I will fail, but in his grace he will not let go.

Today is stretched out before me. It is the first day of a new year, and I intend on enjoying it. I hope the year ahead is filled with blessings for all of you. May God bless.