January
20, 2014
[Pastorgraphs now online at ChristSD.com]
Pastorgraphs: “As a Man Thinketh”
“For
as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
(Proverbs 23:7)
In 1902,
James Allen, a British inspirational author and poet, published an essay
entitled “As a Man Thinketh”, loosely based upon Proverbs 23:7. Of
course, references to “a man” and “he” applies to both men and women, boys and
girls. The inspirational essay concludes you are who and what you think.
That is
profound. If it is true, then your thoughts (your beliefs, or “ethics”) are
critical to your success, happiness and well-being. I agree. In my book on
Integrity, I suggest that “ethics” are the sum total of what we think,
including beliefs, values, principles and ideals. Ethics reside in your mind,
and shape who you are and what you do. So what goes on “between your ears” is
critical for your spiritual, mental and physical well-being.
Thinking is
hard work. That is why many never stop to examine what they believe and why
they believe it. Someone said 5% of the people do 95% of the thinking. If true,
it means that 95% are perfectly content to let others tell them what to think!
For instance, it is much easier to accept the doctrine and dogma of a church
than to do the hard work of reasoning it took theologians centuries to
establish. Or, it is much easier to accept the platform of a political party
(if you read it at all) than to wrestle with the social, economic and political
issues that defies quick and easy answers. Dr. Stephen L. Carter of Yale
University, in his book Integrity wrote: “I suspect that few of us
really know just what we believe − what we value − and, often, we do not really
want to know. Discernment is hard work; it takes time and emotional energy. And
it is so much easier to follow the crowd.”
So, what
you think matters. As Allen put it, “Thought and character are one.” Your
beliefs are your life roadmap, the way you perceive everything in life.
Borrowing from both Proverbs and Allen’s essay, I would like to share:
Seven
Reasons Your Thoughts are Important
1.
You
are what you think.
Allen wrote, "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the
complete sum of all his thoughts." That is precisely what Proverbs says.
It is empowering and liberating to know “A person is limited only by the
thoughts that he chooses.”
2.
You
do what you think.
Allen said, “The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of
the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically
expressed.” Good thoughts produce good results; bad thoughts produce bad
results.
3.
You
become what you think.
This means if you want to change your lives for the better, it all starts with
believing in a better life. Mahatma Gandhi once said people “often become what
they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me
incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to
do it even if I did not have it in the beginning.” Allen said it this way: “As
he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.”
4.
You
attract what you think.
The old adage says birds of a feather flock together. Allen wrote, “Men do not
attract that which they want, but that which they are…The soul attracts that
which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears”.
5.
You
control what you think.
Allen wrote, “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose
his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.” He
added, “They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to
petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pitying, all of which are indications
of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by
a different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot
persist in a power evolving universe. Self-control is strength; Right Thought
is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, ‘Peace, be still!’”
6.
You
must work at what you think.
Thinking, reasoning and believing is not easy. Allen wrote, “A man's mind may
be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run
wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If
no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will
fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind…He who would accomplish
little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He
who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”
7.
You
get what you think.
“Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His
wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his
thoughts and actions.” Allen concluded, “A noble and God-like character is
not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort
in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with God-like
thoughts.”
James Allen
concluded, “Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished
at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his
life.”
Of course,
it is possible to believe something that simply is not true. John Wesley
offered some tools to test beliefs, often referred to as “The Wesleyan
Quadrilateral”.
Do your
beliefs meet the test of:
·
Reason
– does the belief make sense?
·
Experience
– does the belief coincide with other experiences?
·
Authority
– does the belief coincide with authority (the Bible, God’s love?)
·
Consistency
– is the belief consistent with other beliefs and actions?
It was a
high school teacher who challenged me to think for myself. She warned that
doing so was hard work and might cost me popularity. Thinking for yourself
requires courage if you conclude the moral majority is neither moral nor a
majority. Any old dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a strong salmon
to fight upstream against the current to fulfil its life’s purpose.
So where do
you start? With God! Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” And Proverbs 9:10
adds, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding.” Only then will you become what you think, believe
and know in your heart, soul and mind God intended you to be and to do in this
life.
Devotedly
yours, Bill Jenkins
From the
Quote Garden:
“Mind is the Master power
that molds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and
evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and,
shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand
joys, a thousand ills: —
He thinks in secret, and
it comes to pass:
Environment is but his
looking-glass.”
~ James Allen, 1902 ~
Christ United Methodist Ministry
Center
“Christ
in the Heart of San Diego”
3295
Meade Avenue - San Diego, CA 92116 - (619) 284-9205
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