There's a you that's not your thoughts

The fact that you can think a thought and observe it means that there must be a you that’s not the thought. Try this: think of an elephant. Now notice that you can actually notice and observe your thought of the elephant. The you who thinks the thought and can now see it, is the you who can take it captive.

Follow me? Maybe you think this is just a little trick and of little practical use. It’s no trick, no silly exercise. Most people are ruled by their thoughts and are driven by them. They also never really pray—they think, even nice thoughts about God. Living includes thinking, of course, and so does praying. But living and praying are far more than thinking. And as long as most of what you’re doing is thinking (living mostly in your head), you’ll stay lost in your own little mind-made self, distant from God, and probably not living very well to boot. You’ll remain a victim of the tyranny of your thoughts.

You’ve spent most of your life living that way. It’s time to be set free.

For more meditations on the Daily Guide/Rule of Life, click on the blog category, “Daily Guide/Rule of Life”

Click here to read or pray the Daily Guide/Rule of Life

Free from your mind's tyranny

You want to know how to handle your thoughts. The other day, you carved out a little space away from the busyness of your day, and sat down to pray. You got still before God and before a minute was up your mind was racing in forty different directions at once. I don’t know what you expected—some radiant, holy light probably—but your mind did just what I figured it would do. Totally predictable. You can make your body quiet on the outside, but inside there’s a riot going on in your head. Honestly, sometimes my brain feels like its a cage full of monkey’s on crack; my thoughts screech and chatter and swing to and fro and aren’t about to stop just because I want them to.

Very few people can be thought-free even for a few moments. And thought-free isn’t your goal. You’re not to be thought-free, but free from their tyranny. Your aim is to transform the way you relate to your thoughts (Romans 12.2).

You’ve probably never really stopped to think about your thoughts, and because you haven’t, you’re more slave to them than owner. If you’re like most of us, your thoughts rule the roost and you’ve never given them another thought despite the fact that you’ve probably read St. Paul words, “we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10.5). Who is this “we” who can “take every thought captive”? Answer that and you’re on your way to real freedom in life and a life of true prayer.

For more meditations on the Daily Guide/Rule of Life, click on the blog category, “Daily Guide/Rule of Life”

Click here to read or pray the Daily Guide/Rule of Life

Wanting to want is desire enough

Mary Magdalene’s your teacher in all this. She went to the tomb “the first day of the week, while it was still dark” (John 20.1). Empty she walked there. She’d gone to grieve. She wanted only to be near Jesus, even in his death. But she got far more than she wanted, more than she dared dream. Jesus, risen from the dead, stood before her and called her by name. Ecstatic, she ran to embrace him, then he sent her sprinting back up the path, the first to announce the gospel. Forevermore, she’ll be known and the “Apostle to the Apostles”—she got more than she every dreamed of getting (Matthew 28.8). Follow her. Like her, you’re probably pretty empty. You’d like to be able to pray with real desire the words of the Rule—“Oh, my love, I run toward you with all my heart and soul, and mind and strength”— but you tell me you don’t feel all that. Pray them anyway. They’ll keep you wanting to want what you’re saying. And wanting to want is all you need to stay on the path.

Christ will come to you soon enough. I promise. What’s more, Mary Magdalene—so abundantly rewarded for her perseverance—guarantees it.

For more meditations on the Daily Guide/Rule of Life, click on the blog category, “Daily Guide/Rule of Life”

Click here to read or pray the Daily Guide/Rule of Life

Just a little desire is all you need

Follow this path and you’ll experience love; I promise. I’ve told you to run this path, but you’re telling me you’re doing well just to walk it. I know. I’ve been there too, over and over again. I don’t know if that makes you feel better or worse. The truth is, over the course of life we often grow cold to our desire for God. After all, God doesn’t usually show up cheering you on like a college marching band. And even though you want to trust me about that Fire burning within you, you don’t feel it. If your head’s on fire, that’s news to you. And so, there doesn’t seem much that’ll keep you moving along this path I’ve told you about. Honestly, what counts is that you’re on the path—walking or running, even dragging yourself along, if that’s the best you can do. You’ve tasted just enough of God to desire more. That little hunger is enough to keep you moving, even inching forward. You don’t know it’s all you need because all you know is how empty you feel. But wanting to want is a kind of desire isn’t it? You want more than that because it doesn’t feel like what little you have will carry you very far. But it will. That little desire is itself a kind of faith. And Jesus says faith the size of a mustard seed is all you need to get all of God (Matthew 17.20). It’s not the greatness of your desire that moves God toward you; it’s the little you have offered in love that opens you to the abundance of Heaven. All God needs is a tiny crack, and God will pour more mercy your way than you know how to handle.

For more meditations on the Daily Guide/Rule of Life, click on the blog category, “Daily Guide/Rule of Life”

Click here to read or pray the Daily Guide/Rule of Life

Burn

Even now as you read these words, you can notice that there’s something within you that wants you to believe that God is far away, and that you have so far to go. There’s a foulness sitting at the source of your heart, and it’s muddying your view. All you see is the kingdom of your ego, ruled by a little you—an ugly, unholy parody of the true you. But there’s a path toward healing and recovery, and you’re on it. Made desperate by your awakening, you’re running a path that takes you farther into the depths of your being where you must face and confront this ugly parody of you really are. But don’t be afraid. The path is dark, for ugly things lurk here. But if you knew the truth, you’d know they’re only phantoms. You’re lit up with God as you run further in, and the only thing this Fire will consume is sin—your false, deluded, fallen self—and the phantoms it uses to protect itself. You’ll be glad to let that stuff burn.

So, why not stop for a moment and contemplate this thing God is up to in you?

Turn aside from the path. Remove your shoes and socks. The ground beneath your feet is holy (Exodus 3.5).

For more meditations on the Daily Guide/Rule of Life, click on the blog category, “Daily Guide/Rule of Life”

Click here to read or pray the Daily Guide/Rule of Life