What is real?
What is real? it is a question my dad asked himself in an introspective journal entry that I have read many times. Spirituality is what is real was his final conclusion, because the reality of his mother and his childhood was as clear and present in his thoughts as it was in the days past when he was a child and his mother was with him. The absence of this physicality did not change the reality of his or his mothers spiritual existence and permanence. Knowing that our thoughts endure, we should guard them carefully and keep bad thoughts away.
“I know the thoughts I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. Just like my human father had warm and loving thoughts of his mother and his own childhood, Jesus is telling us that our heavenly father has warm and loving thoughts towards us.The lord did not say “I know the things I DO for you, to give you an expected end, he says I know the thoughts I THINK toward you”.
I interpret this to mean that it is VERY important to think good thoughts towards others because those thoughts become the reality, because man is spiritual. This may seem impossible sometimes, but when Jesus is telling us that the lords thoughts toward us are good, and that this causes the expected end, we can understand that our thoughts also determine our experience, because we are made in the image and likeness of God, so we can then choose only good things to think about and we will give only good things a platform to in our thinking.
It is a mistake to accept thinking that dwells on evil, mistakes, failure or weakness. Is our thinking dominated by loss or anger or control towards others? Or, is our thinking acknowledging the power of God and does it acknowledge the good in others in spite of things we see that we would like to fix. Seeing and expressing the good in others is the first step towards having a successful and good life.
Even when surrounded by people wishing to stone a woman, Jesus did not wish to punish her or make her an example, instead he wished to forgive her and to teach by example, how to think ONLY good thoughts towards our fellow man, no matter how challenging the situation.
This thinking of good thoughts can translate into many endless good things for us if we choose to live moment by moment this way.
In baseball, for example, the Astros do not think about themselves according to their stats when they go up to bat, they think about successfully hitting the ball. That expectation of good is what drives the ball over to the big screen or to the Crawford boxes for home runs or grand slams. Players do not go up to bat expecting to fail.
The power that is expressed with a bat is only good, when the thoughts that precede it are also good. The bat in and of itself has no power, it is the thoughts and beliefs of those handling the bat that drives its performance. Expecting good from themselves when confronted with the bat is what gives power to the player to achieve success and not be defeated in any way.
Parents do not teach their kids to swim expecting to fail. Businesses do not create new products expecting to fail. People do not get married expecting to fail. They expect to continue to see the good in others, especially the one they chose for life.
So if you are out walking on the street, and you see someone else, BE HAPPY to see them and greet them because neither of you is dead from covid and you are not the only two people left on the planet, maybe because you and many many others like you, EXPECTED GOOD, which is to stay alive and healthy. In spite of all the beliefs of those world leaders predicting doom and gloom, like they did, telling us we need a great reset, we can instead, reject those beliefs that do not give us an expected end of good and we can know that, in fact, our beliefs of expecting good are IMPERATIVE for health, success and joy.
Even when the mother of Moses could not keep her child with her, she still expected good for her child and her belief propelled the infant floating in a basket into safety.
Seeing the good, in spite of difficult circumstances is how I believe Jesus healed. He saw the perfect man every time and that correct view is what changed the circumstances. It is not possible to live a life like Jesus, one of tolerance, kindness and humility, when we harbor thoughts of anger, or dishonesty or addiction, and refuse forgiveness. Our thoughts are either a healing force or a destructive force. Evil destroys itself, and cannot destroy one iota of good.
A good thought is like a light…It is better to light one little candle than to stumble in the dark. We can be the light, and let our good thoughts build praise of each other’s good works, and honor our spiritual nature as being Christlike. When you see truth, think about that, when you see joy, think about that, when you see integrity, pay attention to that. When you have any success, be thankful and think or speak gratitude about that. It is the best way and the only way to have a good future and a hope.
