I began this Thursday Thought video series over three years ago after COVID hit the world in an effort to maintain some form of communication with you, since it would have been difficult or impossible at that time to engage in more personal forms of communication. Over that time, I’ve talked about many different topics and have offered, admittedly unsolicited, my opinions on various issues of the day. I don’t have many followers…in the single digits is the norm…but I don’t do this so much for them as I do for myself.
Writing the script enables me to put my thoughts together
into a more cohesive form than they otherwise might be. I can look at what I’ve written. I can re-write it. I can change the wording. I can eliminate it entirely. I can do that before anyone else ever sees my
thoughts and opinions. I want to be
certain that what I am saying is what I intend to say, rather than having to
clean up some mess that I’ve made by saying something I might later regret.
And, when I read from a script, I don’t go off on some kind
of improvisional tangent, saying something that doesn’t fit with the rest of
what I’m saying, or which in some way is not appropriate. I tend to stay on track a little better than
I normally would otherwise.
I recognize that not everyone benefits by writing like I
do. People have many and varied ways of
formulating and organizing their thoughts.
Some like to talk it out with someone else they trust. Others may go to a quiet place and meditate
on their thoughts for a time. Some may
want to be busy with a hobby or some other distraction while their thoughts gel
into something useful. Still others may
want to literally sleep on it, as that seems to be helpful at times.
There are many ways to “gather one’s thoughts,” so to speak.
My own thoughts have been a kind of a mess recently. That may be one reason why I’m speaking in
this post about putting thoughts together rather than on some other topic of
the day. Everything from the troubles of
the world to who to vote for in the Wichita mayoral race this fall are part of
my thought process today. And included
in that process are issues such as the state of public transportation in
Wichita, the schools starting up for the 2023-2024 school year, the
ever-increasing prices of necessary food and commodities, natural disasters
such as the fires in Hawaii and flooding in other parts of the nation, the
future of the church in this culture, those of our church family who are
battling chronic illness, the specter of ignorance and want (think Dicken’s A
Christmas Carol) growing in our society, the hijacking and politicizing of the
Christian Evangelical movement, and a host of other topics.
Living in this culture, with instant access to the world
through the Internet and social media has it’s upsides, but it also has its
issues and problems. The sheer number of
things instant knowledge tells us that we are supposed to be concerned about as
good citizens of the human race overwhelms us as we struggle sometimes to just
put food on the table and get the kids to school on time. Our normal methods of sorting out those
things we need to be concerned about and leaving for others those things we
can’t address quickly become overwhelmed and virtually non-functional. We begin to see the world with a doom and
gloom lens and believe there’s no way out of the despair. Mental and physical health suffer. Relationships suffer. Individuals suffer.
It need not be this way.
We can find ways to remodel, so to speak, our issue filters and methods
of sorting out those issues. We can look
for things in this life that can help bring us calm and peace even as the world
around us seems to become more chaotic and disorganized.
Look for the beauty and incredibly intricate design in the
universe. Look for, as Mr. Rogers famously
said, “the helpers” when bad things happen…those who rush in to mitigate the
bad things. Create new relationships
with others and enjoy their company.
Take advantage of healthy habits and activities of both body and
mind. Stop, and, to use a well-worn
phrase, “Smell the roses.”
Above all, seek relationship with the God who created you,
loves you, and desires the best for you.
Rest in His love, grace, justice, and forgiveness.
I’m reminded of the words of an old Christian hymn by Fanny
J Crosby…they go like this:
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a
dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of his love, and covers me there with his hand,
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