It’s Monday and I feel the need to post a truly non-spiritual non-life-altering blog with content that will possibly be completely useless to you and you won’t be able to get the 2-3 minutes back that it took you to read it. I apologize.
We all have thoughts that are constantly being censored by our conscience, convictions and hopefully good manners that we learned from great parents. The ability to manage those thoughts and filter what is actually spoken or written is something we do rather naturally when we are well-rested and in our full capacities. (The help of the Holy Spirit is also nice but I’m not making this a spiritual blog so I won’t mention it. *wink) If we are wise, we learn to do this better as we grow older. My father always said “Study to be quiet”. His intent was less about the quiet and more about wisely choosing when and what to speak. It’s not necessary or advisable to tell every thought that goes through your head.
I was at a party with some friends recently and someone brought up the subject of a rather embarrassing event for me. I had an eye surgery several years ago and was on some strong pain medication that made me quite loopy…. actually, I was completely high. I didn’t realize how “high” this medicine was making me because I had been home recovering for most of the week while I was taking it. Unfortunately, I attended a wedding at the end of that week and I did so completely high on Percocet. What I learned about that experience is that I don’t like the feeling of not being control of my behavior. It was both funny and alarming to actually SAY every thought that crossed my mind. No filter. Everything just flowed right out of my mouth. (I also felt the need to get extremely close to people when I talked to them, like a drunk girl… but I digress.)
Ok… I can’t help it. I guess there will be a spiritual point to this.
When I think about that experience now, I think about who I really am inside. The “me” that I am constantly subtly censoring. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit of God as is the favorite top 3, love, peace & joy. We should all be self-controlled about the things we say and even the thoughts we have.
- At what point, though, do we stop needing to censor ourselves so much and actually experience a true transformation inside?
- When do our thoughts become God’s thoughts? He says we can have the “mind of Christ”…..
- If someone looked into my thoughts, would they say they look like God’s thoughts?
I’d like to say that I have grown spiritually and changed a bit since my lovely Percocet adventure. That is likely true, BUT… I sit here today knowing that at my core, my flesh is sinful. If I don’t spend time feeding my spirit with good things and building up my spirit, my flesh will be the stronger of the two and I will start trying to “be” good rather than letting goodness “be” in me. (wow… that was profound, and I didn’t even plan that!)
So…. back to random and meaningless. Here are 10 thoughts that I don’t mind letting come out of my mouth (typing fingers) today but will not change your life or benefit you in any way! All safely in the meaningless Ecclesiastes category!
1. Why do the little bits at the bottom of a bag of Cheetos taste so good and why can’t they be good for you like an apple? Why do I want to eat something sweet and Chocolate now too? (because I’m trying to lose weight and I can’t have either of these things!)
2. Did Jesus ever have accidents? I always wonder, did he ever accidentally knock over a glass full of water? Did he accidentally hit his thumb with a hammer?
3. Tom Selleck and Mark Harmon. Not bad thoughts. I think they are both “grandpa-sexy”. I hope that doesn’t offend you….maybe I should have censored this thought.
4. Occasionally, like today, my face still breaks out like a teenager. I hate this.
5. I confess, I have an obsession with Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles and Room plug-ins. I have a coupon sitting by my computer as I type this and I’m telling myself to resist this temptation.
6. I really like using Biblegateway.com to look up scriptures. Still… I also love my stack of Bibles sitting on the table next to me right now.
7. I still haven’t done my taxes for 2012. I finally have the Turbotax program in my hands waiting for me to do them. Deadline to submit is Oct 15th. I will probably wait until that actual day to file them. (this is starting to give me stress… and may be an answer to #4 random thought.)
8. Now that I’ve mentioned taxes, I’m back to thinking about the fact that I need to get a new computer before I can do my taxes.
9. I really like Coco-Cola. The very best fountain drink mix of carb & cola is from the Cookie Company at the mall. The also serve it on really great crushed ice. *I don’t drink Coke regularly at all but only because of health & diet reasons….otherwise, I love it!
10. I talked with a friend last night who said she doesn’t think she will get married or have kids. I understand the thought but it still makes me a little sad today when I think about it.
11. Puppies and Kittens. Yeah… I had to add another thought of something sweet that makes me smile after having that last thought.