“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind…”                                                              Ephesians 4:23

So how’s that for a pretentious title today? Well, yes, it is, but there is also some truth to it. If you are like me, it can get discouraging to see the news of the world we live in. Crime, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, school shootings, the plight of those who try to emigrate from horrible political and social systems- the list goes on and on.

Sometimes we feel so helpless to make things better. We can’t change these issues on a macro level. Anxiety is caused by feeling loss of control of the world around us. This sounds like a recipe for significant anxiety!

So, what CAN we control?

We can control those small decisions that we make every day. We can decide to make the world a little better place for the next person we meet. We can decide to volunteer in our community to make it a safer and healthier place. We can get a COVID vaccination to help stop the spread of the disease and help protect ourselves and our loved ones. We can write an encouraging note to someone, or just send a random text that tells someone dear that we love them.

Yes, there are dozens of little decisions that we can make, in order to make the world around us a bit better. Remember my favorite mantra- “Good behavior beats bad thinking”

So, go ahead and change the world- by making your little piece of the world better.

Prayer: Lord, give us the vision to make our little space a better one for having been there, Amen

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.  He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’  So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.  About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.  ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Matthew 20:1-16

I love this parable that Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard. He uses both the principles of paradox (last shall be first) and the great logic of the master’s authority to pay his workers in the way that he had promised. It was also about generosity, and our often-injured sense of fairness.

I found it interesting that the workers hired in the morning expected higher pay than the vine master had originally promised them, simply because he had paid the last hour workers the same wage he had promised the all-day workers. Now, if I were one of the workers who had worked all day in the hot sun, would I have been upset? You bet I would! My sense of fairness would have been violated. And believe me, if someone wants to set off another into a fit, just mess with their sense of fairness.

Jesus explained here however that justice was done, even if it did not seem fair. One could argue that the master was simply being generous to the late day workers. Possibly, he reasoned that he had to get the harvest in that day, and he would need to pay a premium to the late workers just to save his crop. Who knows? The point is, the master had the right to make that decision. Even if it did not seem fair to the all-day workers, it was justice, and he was honest to his word to them.

Just human nature at work here, and we all qualify for that. But Jesus had a higher sense of justice, and a lesson for us all. He is sovereign, and the paradox of the “last shall be first” is one of those themes in the Bible that we all need to reckon with.

Prayer: Lord, your ways are higher than our ways. Help us to see your truth, Amen

 He called, “Any fish, boys?”

“No,” we replied.

 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty of them!” So we did, and couldn’t draw in the net because of the weight of the fish, there were so many!

John 21:5-7

I was talking with a friend the other day about grace. Specifically, we talked about grace that is invisible to us until we are enabled to see it. I suggested that the key to have the lens to see such grace is humility.

We were talking about the incident when Jesus told Peter, (after Peter and others had spent a whole night of fruitless fishing), to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter, a fisherman by profession, must have been taken aback when this itinerant preacher and part-time carpenter, gave him fishing advice.

Peter did as Jesus suggested, and he came up with the biggest haul of his life. He received the grace of a bounty of fish that had heretofore been hidden from him. Peter’s decision to accede to the directions of a non-fisherman took some humility. This came from Peter’s trust of Jesus, as well as perhaps a sense of “Well, I’ve got nothing to lose” thinking. Who knows?

I do suggest that it took humility on Peter’s part to cast that net where Jesus said to. Humility is the mindset- “There are things people can teach me. I don’t have all the answers.”

Teachable people are humble people. They are successful ones too.

Prayer: Thank you for the hidden graces that await us as we trust in you, Amen.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”                                                   Mahatma Gandhi

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”                                                 Mark Twain

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love                                                                                                                        I John 4:18

 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven…                                                                                                                                                        Matthew 18:21-22

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”                                                                                                                                                                Martin Luther King, Jr.

These are some rather poetic words, spoken by immortal thinkers and purveyors of wisdom. There are untold numbers of such quotes, from great thinkers, writers, the Bible, and other wisdom sources. In these times when wisdom seems to be in short supply, when love is not the first solution chosen to deal with our problems, I thought that I would just give a few quotes to consider today.

Several are about forgiveness. We need that every day, and we need to give it every day. Maybe that is why Jesus made the standard so generous.

Think about these quotes, and decide which one is the most meaningful for you today. They are all great quotes, but maybe one will just stand out to you. I hope so.

Enjoy a day of peace and love! 

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the wisdom that comes from you and through your servants, Amen.

Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.’ What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples made with human hands.                                                                                    Acts 17:16-17

In this present era, we experience a type of communication where people are talking across one another instead of to one another. We see Paul as an example of one who knew how to engage people. Paul had a message of good news which he desperately wanted to share with people, because he believed that spiritual life and death were at stake. Instead of demeaning and mocking the primitive beliefs of the idol worshippers at Athens, Paul showed respect for them in their search for truth. He acknowledged their sincere search for truth, and he showed his interest in their culture. He walked around the city and observed what was important to them. He did not judge them, but pointed out and affirmed their own desire to know the “unknown god”. The Athenians were open to the idea of a god that they did not yet know, and they had made idols to various gods. However, in the interest of not leaving any out lest they anger one of those deities, they made an idol to the “unknown god.”

Paul was able to use their own language and concepts to help introduce them to the God that could offer them peace and salvation. He did not mock their feeble attempts to placate the unknown god, he introduced them to the God of their need, the God that they sought and did not yet know.

Paul’s approach is needed today. We need to listen, and understand the language of people with whom we disagree. We need not, and should not, shame and dishonor those with whom we disagree. We need to love them enough to hear their world view. It may be very different from ours, yet people come to a particular world view for a reason. It is arrived at due to a journey different than ours oftentimes.  

As we enter the heated environment of political rhetoric which is so visible these days, let us pause to understand that with which we disagree. You will read, if you complete the 17^th chapter of Acts, that Paul gained a hearing from the people of Athens because he cared enough to hear their story and their world view, different as it was from his. Let us be intentional in respectfully hearing views with which we disagree.

It is good for our soul, and the souls of those whom we love and yet do not agree with.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the patience to hear what we do not agree with, and the grace to patiently share your love, Amen.

Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers I Timothy 4:8-10

I had knee replacement surgery several years ago, and it taught me several things. First, is that there is an emotional consequence of surgery that we would do well to consider more than we do. Of course there is physical pain, which is to be expected. Frankly, that pain was very manageable. The mild depression that followed was not as I might have expected. It too was quite manageable once I recognized it for what it was. It consisted of negative thinking which was not very rational at times. It left me thinking that I would never totally recover, and that walking would always be a bit of a problem. Not true, of course, but when you are there in your mindset, it can be hard to combat.

The other lesson was a “re-learning”- if you don’t use it, you lose it. One day I looked down at my calf muscle and I was appalled at the muscle mass I had lost. I had become (and still am) an avid walker, and I was used to a well-developed calf muscle, built on miles of walking every day. In a scant two weeks, I saw a rather withered muscle that added to the aforementioned depressive thinking. What I had developed over the years seemed to disappear in weeks.

The moral of the story? If you don’t use a function regularly, you lose it. Muscles need to be worked every day. In fact, every faculty of our being is there to be used. Our mind, our body, our intellect, our social connections- everything, must be regularly used to be maintained in top shape.

So, since we are physical, spiritual and emotional beings, we need to find ways to stimulate all three areas daily. After all, if you don’t use it, you do indeed begin to lose it.

Prayer: Lord, you have made us to be bodies and minds in motion. Thank you for that marvelous plan, Amen

 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.                                                                                                                                                            I Corinthians 6:20

Funny thing, pride. It is the original, and I would suggest, the only sin. All other sins, problems, errors, failures- whatever you might want to call them- come from pride. Pride is about making sure that I am the center of my own universe. The needs, rights, and well-being of others follow after my place being secured. I can take care of myself, and I do not need anyone else to tell me what to do. To its extreme, it says that the rules don’t exactly apply to me like they do other people.

This description does not sound very flattering, does it? Yet, to some degree, we all fall into that mindset somewhere. Certainly not all the time, and not in all situations to be sure. Indeed, we humans are capable of some incredible altruistic thinking and behaviors. Yet at our core, we need the intervention of the Creator to redeem us to health.

Essentially, when it comes to our relationship with God, we need to recognize our inability to save ourselves by virtue of our good behavior. Recognition of God and his son, Jesus, as the remedy for our sins is the key to health and salvation.

Much like the addict who comes to realize in his 1^st step that his/her best efforts got them to a place of powerlessness, we all need to take the humility step in order to be fully free. That means that we accept that we alone do not have the answer to all life’s problems, and that we need help to navigate our life.

Self-forgiveness (or lack of it, more properly) is an example of how insidious pride is. People sometimes take offense when I point out the pride in failing to forgive one’s self for sins and errors that have sidetracked us. I point out that they would forgive others for offenses, but they do not forgive themselves for some reason. “Are the rules different for you than for other people?” I ask.

Yeah, pride is a funny thing…

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the remedies for pride. Help us to see our need for your plans, not ours, Amen

 And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.                                                            Philippians 4:8

One of the things that counselors do is to help people reframe situations in their life. Reframing is a useful tool to help people see things in a different light. For example, I recently spoke with a client who has been experiencing some painful family dissension. She has seen this a sad event which she believes is an indictment of her parenting. Through this, she has taken some hard looks at her behavior and her worldview, and has seen that she has expectations of herself and others which have cause her great disappointment.

After several sessions of discussion of her situation and behavior, I talked with her about her self-critical views, and how that affects her sense of joy. We talked about seeing these events as learning experiences, which they clearly are, and that she has grown a great deal from this. In fact, she has denied herself a sense of joy because she feels that she has not measured up the way she should.

By defining this period as a positive (though painful) learning experience, she can see that she is working hard to change, and that she is allowed to have joy, even if she has not performed perfectly. By accepting this period as a learning experience, she can put it into a positive light. It is growth, not failure.

I think this is what Paul meant when he said,

 And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.   

Prayer: Lord, help us to see things through the filter of your positive message for us that even as we are learning, you love us right where we are, Amen                                                       

Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an overflow of giving to others.                                                II Corinthians 8:2

The Dead Sea (what a name) is a salty lake in the Jordan Valley in Israel. It is incredibly salty, with almost 10 times the salinity level of the ocean. This body of water is one in which I could actually swim, if you can call it that. Even non-swimmers like me can float on this briny water.

The Dead Sea is “dead” because it has inlets, primarily the Jordan River, but no actual outlet to another body of water. Because of this lack of continuous water exchange, and due to the high heat and low altitude basin, the Dead Sea accumulates minerals, but does not sustain much life. Too salty.

The metaphor here has a truth for us. Bodies that do not have an outlet, but just take in resources, tend to stagnate. Healthy organisms have a dynamic rhythm of give and take which provides balance. We produce an output from what we consume, in order to maintain health. We give things away which we have received in order to maintain the chain of life.

So, as they say in the AA 12^th step, “You can’t keep it unless you give it away”.

Yep.  

Prayer: Lord, you provide opportunities for us to give, which ultimately gives us health, Amen

 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied…             Exodus 4:1-2

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”                                Deuteronomy 31:6

This analogy from Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush is a great metaphor for mental health approaches to anxiety. Moses, fearful of the huge mission God was sending him on, pleaded that he was overwhelmed and overmatched for the task.  God replied to him, “What’s in your hand?” The implication was that Moses had what he needed with him already. He was equipped to handle the daunting task which caused him fear and anxiety.

We have in our hands tools to deal with anxiety. As stated in earlier reflections, anxiety is an ever present foe, a traveling partner if you will, that we all carry with us. But we also carry the tools to deal with it. Anxiety would lead us to believe that we are overmatched. That eventually, we are doomed to some frightful experience or event that may even kill us. Panic attacks are examples of this. However, even regular everyday anxiety is like that little self-destructive force that seeks our destruction. But we have tools in our hand to deal with it. We have ways to control anxiety, and just knowing that we have the tools is half the battle.

First, we breathe. We hit the “pause button” and take control of irrational thoughts that threaten to overwhelm us. We take voluntary control over an involuntary bodily function, our breathing. A 4 second slow inhale through our nose, hold for 5 seconds, and a slow 7 second exhale through our mouth just a few times will slow us down and give us control of our body. This also helps to blow off more carbon dioxide which builds up as our bodies gear up for the fight that it feels is coming.

Next, we pray. Prayer, as discussed earlier, is not just for God to change our situation. It is to give us the strength, assurance, and renewed mind so that WE can control our own behaviors in response to this invisible threat we perceive.   

Then we develop an “exit strategy”. Hopefully, this is something that we have considered before we are in the immediate high anxiety situation. That strategy involves developing a list of everyday things we can do when faced with what we feel are overwhelming thoughts and fears. It includes any and all behaviors that we can use to take back control. It can be as mundane as going to get a drink of water; taking a brief walk; calling a friend; picking up a book or magazine; citing a bible verse that is meaningful; doing some push-ups. In other words, it can be anything that we have earlier decided are activities that I CAN DO to take back control.

The beauty of this is that just knowing that such a list exists takes away some pressure, and reassures us that we can do something and anxiety will not overwhelm us.

Finally, at the end of the list- way down on it- is the “drastic step”. That is the step that is completely unlikely to be used, but could be if all else fails. That could be like, “Well, if worse comes to worse, I could go to the emergency room. I would be treated there and they could help me”. Again, just knowing that there is always a solution to every problem, which is key to mental health, is reassuring and soothing.

We do have what we need in our hand. We often just need to be reminded that it is there.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the plan that we can regulate ourselves when we know that you are always there, and that we are not alone. Thank you for the tools you have built into us, Amen.