The Wardrobe Of Our Thoughts

I bought the film 'Eat, Pray, Love' the other day and am just rewatching it this evening.

 

It's about a woman who is dissatisfied with her life in New York and decides to travel to Italy, India and Bali to find herself again.

 

At one point, when she is on a spiritual retreat in India, a man she has sort of befriended tells her she has to start choosing what thoughts to 'put on' in the same way that she chooses what clothes to wear.

 

I don't spend very long choosing what to wear in the mornings.  The formula is simple: always work from the feet up.  Is it raining or freezing?  Yes - boots and something that will go with boots.  No - heels (or sandals in the summer) and something that will go with heels.

 

But when it comes to our thoughts, too easily we let ourselves think things without thinking about them - we think without thinking.

 

We throw on any old thoughts, regardless of whether they are flattering or 'our size' or if they suit us.  We put our thoughts on without wondering if they are true.

 

I have recently challenged myself to stop using the word 'should' in my own thoughts and conversations with myself.  'Should' makes me feel as though I am obliged to do something and I don't measure up.  'Should' suggests I fall short.  'Should' makes me feel that there is only one right and perfect way of doing things.

 

As someone who is trying to break free from the hold of perfectionism and the feeling that there is always only one right way of doing something, eliminating 'Should' has been a big help.

 

Now, I find myself thinking, "I could have done that" or "I would like to do this".

 

I have started to rethink my thinking.

 

The Bible talks about taking control over our thoughts and rethinking our thinking:

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

 

[2 Corinthians 10:1-6 NIV]
 

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

If my thoughts - about myself and other people - don't measure up or match what Christ thinks, I need to change them, to make them line up with what God says. 

I need to rethink my thinking. 

 

Please Take Off Your Shoes

There is a sign in the prayer room at Momentum asking people to take off their shoes or wellies as they come in. Given the heavy rains and muddy ground, and the fact that people are sitting on the floor in here, it is understandable.

But it got me thinking about Moses' encounter with God. And about Moses' shoes. Moses sees the burning bush and is stopped in his tracks. Then God speaks to him:

"God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'

He said, 'Yes? I'm right here!' God said, 'Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground.'

[Exodus 3:4-5 MSG]

Remove your sandals from your feet.

You're standing on holy ground.

I've never really stopped to wonder why God told Moses to take off his shoes. And what that had to do with holiness.

According to Matthew Henry's commentary, it was a sign of respect. In the same way that we might "doff our hats".

But no one really wears hats anymore - let alone doffing them - do they?

In a society which doesn't know how to respect its elders, or itself, or its own bodies, how do we understand what it means to show respect for God? And why does it matter?

Taking off our shoes is vulnerable: not many of us like our feet. Depending on the ground, it can be painful. If our feet are not that fresh, it can be humiliating. Sometimes our shoes denote our profession, and so removing them is a reminder that we come before God as people, not professionals.

Removing our shoes as we come to pray reminds us that God is God and we are human: we are vulnerable and broken people meeting with a holy God.

We don't have to physically remove our shoes every time we pray (and it wouldn't always be practical), but it is a good reminder for us as to the attitude of our hearts. When we pray, we make ourselves vulnerable and strip away our earthly labels. We realise we have nothing to bring and we encounter the Holy God. And, by His grace, we are not consumed.