Good Friday morning! That first full work week of the year is about to pass on by. Do you understand all that the Bible has to teach? I know that I do not, and I suspect that none on this earth have all the answers or wisdom from the Bible learned. This week I began reading an article about finding God in our hearts. The article tells us to watch, to step back from our turbulent thoughts and just watch. This method is at the heart of therapy for the mind. Journaling, keeping a diary, and noting the thoughts that cause trouble are methods of keeping watch on our minds. Watching involves both guarding against those bad thoughts and observing the effects of thoughts on our mind and body. It is too easy for me to plunge into a daydream where I imagine a very pressure-filled situation and then find the effects of anxiety coursing through my body. How did I get to that point? By not watching, and getting caught up in a destructive maelstrom of thoughts.
We may not realize at the time that we are doing this to our own self. Reading a book, even the Bible, on what to do in a situation is different from experiencing the situation first hand. Jesus and Paul both warned us to keep watch. As in anything that is difficult to do, we must practice and learn. Keeping watch on our mind and thoughts will improve with practice. That practice must come in the quiet times when the thoughts are not already too far gone into depression or anxiety. We may wonder why we are told to practice meditation, or finding a quiet place with God, every day. As with any learned skill, each of us will improve over time and become proficient at finding a quite place with our Lord, even in the midst of an intense storm of thoughts.
I pray that each of us will have time and take the time to have a wonderful and quiet weekend. God bless you!
Bucky
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