“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Everyone meditates. And it shows.
Not long ago, the screenwriter for a movie titled Iron Lady made good use of an old quote with an uncertain source some believe to be Mahatma Gandhi.
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
Resonates, doesn’t it? These words are the best exposition of Proverbs 4:23 I’ve seen. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Whatever comes out of you and me, once or many times over years, has firm roots in our innermost beings. Doesn’t that middle line get your attention? Actions become habits. The last two as well: Your character. Your destiny. Ouch!
In years to come, entire case studies will be done on the thoughts of a young man who transformed a Colorado movie theater into the site of a massacre. The whole enterprise probably seemed much more noble and altruistic in his head than in the harsh light of reality. Then it was just plain murder, cruel and random. The ruminations of that brilliant, darkened mind will be dissected and analyzed until the cows come home in the hope of preventing future similar tragedies. This is called root cause analysis and it’s a mainstay in the wake of public tragedies and significant events.
What I wonder is how good are our personal root cause analyses? As the old saying goes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Perhaps it’s effective to insert “thinking” in place of “doing”. Insanity is thinking the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Those of us who don’t spend much time on the psychiatrist’s couch don’t spend much time picking apart our “normal” thoughts either. Too often, they are permitted to run unfettered wherever they wish because they don’t seem to get us into very much trouble. But normal is an enemy of extraordinary. Our everyday thoughts could benefit from the scrutiny of the Word, don’t you think? How well does normal hold up in light of our holy directive to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect? The psalmist said the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul (Psalm 19:7). The law of the Lord is liberty (James 1:25) and it is love (Matthew 22:37-40). It is not a book. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39)
The very first Leaves of Grace to come out of me (January 2002) posited that following on to know the Lord involves changing our minds. Here, more than a decade later the concept is more relevant to me than ever.
Perhaps my own pondering on the subject is born of my recent departure from public service. For thirty years, and particularly for the past six or seven, I’ve had plenty to think about. Usually it took more than forty hours a week to get it done. Now my thoughts are my own and they seek new channels, as does a canyoned, racing river suddenly splashing onto a broad and open plain. Guess what. It really, really matters where these thoughts cut their new courses because my destiny waits. This destiny is the future and expected end Jeremiah foresaw (29:11). It is the product of the good works Paul noted to the Ephesian church (2:10). God has gone to so much trouble for me. After all that effort, I would hate my epitaph to read, “She did so little with so much.” Selah. Pause and think about that.
© 2012 Melissa Kay Simonds