The Really Real Is Deeper Than Your Thoughts
The Really Real Is Deeper Than Your Thoughts
Wednesday of Holy Week -- April 8, 2020
In 1637, French philosopher Rene Descartes wrote, “je pense, donc je suis,” which has been translated, “I think, therefore I am.” Later, in another philosophical work, he translated the phrase into Latin: cogito, ergo sum.
In my limited studies through the years, I’ve learned that the phrase provided guidance for the Enlightenment. The phrase not only elevated the human capacity to think and formulate ideas, it advocated that thinking is the core aspect of our humanity. This is our essence, so to speak, the core of what it means to be human. Our being is determined by our capacity to think.
So in the centuries since Descartes, we have been enamored with our thoughts, with our capacity to think and reason. These are not unimportant realities, by the way, but are crucial to our progress as humans, crucial to our ongoing becoming. Ideas and thoughts lead us to understand better how to respond to pandemics and to create solutions that were not available to persons hundreds of years ago.
But I’ll disagree with our philosophers on one key point: Our being is not determined by our capacity to think. One marker of who we are as humans may be our capacity to think and reason, but that capacity is certainly not the only marker, nor the most compelling marker.
“I think, therefore I am”? No thank you. My thinking is not the center of me.
But most contemporary people continue to be overly attached to their own thoughts and ideas. Over the years, I have noticed how difficult it is for persons to let go of their thoughts, or even to believe that their way of thinking about some issue or plan or behavior might of itself be faulty.
I’ve had the experience of talking to groups about the need for silence as a regular life-pattern, and had people tell me that for them, silence is mainly helpful as a way of “being with my thoughts.” If, during silence, you are thinking thoughts, then you are not actually silent. Engaging your thoughts can be a noisy exercise!
I’ve heard some Twelve-steppers talk about “stinkin’ thinkin’,” and from what Brother Lawrence experienced, that may be a fitting term for much of our thinking. It’s thinking that isn’t rooted in reality – which ultimately, then, is not rooted in God, since God is the really Real, the ultimate Reality. Our stinkin’ thinkin’, rather, is rooted in the way I perceive life or the way I want things to be. (We see this tendency often among politicians who consistently speak falsehood and who deny plain facts, even when those facts have been video-taped and are public record . . . all in order to create their own alternative reality. We are all guilty of this kind of stinkin’ thinkin’ to some extent.)
It seems to me that during these days when life is so topsy-turvy, we need some way to drop anchor that is not about thinking thoughts. Spending too much time thinking about coronavirus (unless you are a scientist or in the medical field) will just lead to fear or anxiety or depression or harried activity.
When I say, “drop anchor,” I mean to get beneath the frantic, harried thoughts, to drop through those things that bring anxiety, and to touch something more solid, something that has the capacity to hold the weight of our being.
From Brother Lawrence, on practicing God’s presence:
Brother Lawrence was aware of his sins and was not at all surprised by them. “That is my nature,” he would say, “the only thing I know how to do.” He simply confessed his sins to God, without pleading with Him or making excuses. After this, he was able to peacefully resume his regular activity of love and adoration. If Brother Lawrence didn’t sin, he thanked God for it, because only God’s grace could keep him from sinning.
When he was troubled by something, he seldom consulted anyone about it. Knowing only that God was present, he walked in the light of faith and was content just to lose himself in God’s love no matter what happened. And in God’s love, he would find himself again.
He remarked that thinking often spoils everything; that evil usually begins with our thoughts. In Brother Lawrence’s opinion, we should reject any thoughts which distract us from serving the Lord or which undermine our salvation. Freeing the mind of such thoughts will permit a comfortable conversation with God. But Brother Lawrence added that this isn’t always easy. When he was first saved, he had often spent his entire prayer time rejecting distractions and then falling immediately into them again.
He said that a sharp distinction should be drawn between acts of the intellect and those of the will. The former were of little importance, while the latter meant everything. All we really had to do was to love and rejoice in God. He said that without this love of God good works would not erase a single sin. In fact, God often chose those who had been the greatest sinners to receive His greatest graces, because this would reveal His goodness more dramatically.
Only the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse us of sin. For this reason, we should strive to love Him with all our hearts. Brother Lawrence said he concentrated on doing little things for Him, since he was unable to do bigger things. After that, anything the Lord willed could happen to him, and he wouldn’t be concerned about it. Therefore, he didn’t worry about anything, and asked God for nothing except that he might not offend Him.
[Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1982).]
For Reflection:
o The Desert Fathers of the 5th and 6th centuries believed that prayer should move deeper than thoughts. Our thoughts, they taught, are the doorway through which we are tempted by the devil.
o Centering prayer and Christian meditation are two forms of contemplative prayer that move deeper than thoughts. They affirm that God is present beyond what we think and beyond what we say. Thus, prayer is not always generated by our thoughts and words.
o During our physical distancing, and in light of the COVID-19 threat, this is a perfect time to begin – or continue – a practice of meditation or contemplative prayer as a way of dropping anchor during these uncertain times.
Wednesday of Holy Week -- April 8, 2020
In 1637, French philosopher Rene Descartes wrote, “je pense, donc je suis,” which has been translated, “I think, therefore I am.” Later, in another philosophical work, he translated the phrase into Latin: cogito, ergo sum.
In my limited studies through the years, I’ve learned that the phrase provided guidance for the Enlightenment. The phrase not only elevated the human capacity to think and formulate ideas, it advocated that thinking is the core aspect of our humanity. This is our essence, so to speak, the core of what it means to be human. Our being is determined by our capacity to think.
So in the centuries since Descartes, we have been enamored with our thoughts, with our capacity to think and reason. These are not unimportant realities, by the way, but are crucial to our progress as humans, crucial to our ongoing becoming. Ideas and thoughts lead us to understand better how to respond to pandemics and to create solutions that were not available to persons hundreds of years ago.
But I’ll disagree with our philosophers on one key point: Our being is not determined by our capacity to think. One marker of who we are as humans may be our capacity to think and reason, but that capacity is certainly not the only marker, nor the most compelling marker.
“I think, therefore I am”? No thank you. My thinking is not the center of me.
But most contemporary people continue to be overly attached to their own thoughts and ideas. Over the years, I have noticed how difficult it is for persons to let go of their thoughts, or even to believe that their way of thinking about some issue or plan or behavior might of itself be faulty.
I’ve had the experience of talking to groups about the need for silence as a regular life-pattern, and had people tell me that for them, silence is mainly helpful as a way of “being with my thoughts.” If, during silence, you are thinking thoughts, then you are not actually silent. Engaging your thoughts can be a noisy exercise!
I’ve heard some Twelve-steppers talk about “stinkin’ thinkin’,” and from what Brother Lawrence experienced, that may be a fitting term for much of our thinking. It’s thinking that isn’t rooted in reality – which ultimately, then, is not rooted in God, since God is the really Real, the ultimate Reality. Our stinkin’ thinkin’, rather, is rooted in the way I perceive life or the way I want things to be. (We see this tendency often among politicians who consistently speak falsehood and who deny plain facts, even when those facts have been video-taped and are public record . . . all in order to create their own alternative reality. We are all guilty of this kind of stinkin’ thinkin’ to some extent.)
It seems to me that during these days when life is so topsy-turvy, we need some way to drop anchor that is not about thinking thoughts. Spending too much time thinking about coronavirus (unless you are a scientist or in the medical field) will just lead to fear or anxiety or depression or harried activity.
When I say, “drop anchor,” I mean to get beneath the frantic, harried thoughts, to drop through those things that bring anxiety, and to touch something more solid, something that has the capacity to hold the weight of our being.
From Brother Lawrence, on practicing God’s presence:
Brother Lawrence was aware of his sins and was not at all surprised by them. “That is my nature,” he would say, “the only thing I know how to do.” He simply confessed his sins to God, without pleading with Him or making excuses. After this, he was able to peacefully resume his regular activity of love and adoration. If Brother Lawrence didn’t sin, he thanked God for it, because only God’s grace could keep him from sinning.
When he was troubled by something, he seldom consulted anyone about it. Knowing only that God was present, he walked in the light of faith and was content just to lose himself in God’s love no matter what happened. And in God’s love, he would find himself again.
He remarked that thinking often spoils everything; that evil usually begins with our thoughts. In Brother Lawrence’s opinion, we should reject any thoughts which distract us from serving the Lord or which undermine our salvation. Freeing the mind of such thoughts will permit a comfortable conversation with God. But Brother Lawrence added that this isn’t always easy. When he was first saved, he had often spent his entire prayer time rejecting distractions and then falling immediately into them again.
He said that a sharp distinction should be drawn between acts of the intellect and those of the will. The former were of little importance, while the latter meant everything. All we really had to do was to love and rejoice in God. He said that without this love of God good works would not erase a single sin. In fact, God often chose those who had been the greatest sinners to receive His greatest graces, because this would reveal His goodness more dramatically.
Only the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse us of sin. For this reason, we should strive to love Him with all our hearts. Brother Lawrence said he concentrated on doing little things for Him, since he was unable to do bigger things. After that, anything the Lord willed could happen to him, and he wouldn’t be concerned about it. Therefore, he didn’t worry about anything, and asked God for nothing except that he might not offend Him.
[Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1982).]
For Reflection:
o The Desert Fathers of the 5th and 6th centuries believed that prayer should move deeper than thoughts. Our thoughts, they taught, are the doorway through which we are tempted by the devil.
o Centering prayer and Christian meditation are two forms of contemplative prayer that move deeper than thoughts. They affirm that God is present beyond what we think and beyond what we say. Thus, prayer is not always generated by our thoughts and words.
o During our physical distancing, and in light of the COVID-19 threat, this is a perfect time to begin – or continue – a practice of meditation or contemplative prayer as a way of dropping anchor during these uncertain times.
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