What Are We Thinking?

The Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent begins with Christ proclaiming to his disciples all that would soon happen to him:

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the Chief Priests and Scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will ridicule him, beat him, spit on him, and will kill him.  And on the third day he shall rise again (St Mark 10: 33 – 34).

The reading then comes to James’ and John’s request made to our Lord.  They ask that one of them would to sit at his right, and one at his left when Christ comes into the glory of his Kingdom.  Our Lord responds to their request,

…You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink from the cup from which I drink?  And the baptism in which I am baptized are you able to be baptized? (St Mark 10: 38)

James and John were attempting to order themselves with Christ according to the world system’s forms of power and authority.  This, understandably, was a cause of offense to the other ten Apostles.  Our Lord gives them all this instruction:

…You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for the many (St Mark 10: 42 – 25).

The Beatitudes also spell out a very different ethos to that of the world system.  In the Sermon on the Mount we are informed that a poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace making are valued, and those exhibiting the qualities will be blessed by Jesus in his Kingdom s(see St Matthew 5: 1 – 11).

Based upon the request of James and John, I come to this point:  the battle is in the mind.  St Paul writes this:  “We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10: 5).  We have this proper request from the “Prayer of the Hours:  “…Set aright our minds; cleanse our thoughts…”  Again, the battle, therefore, is in the mind!

Let me paraphrase Christ’s statement to James and John in the form of questions that can be directed to us:  “What are you thinking?”  “What am I thinking?”  “What are you thinking?”   “What are we thinking?”

The Fifth Sunday of Lent focuses on the life St Mary of Egypt.  A battle raged in her mind, her soul, and every part of her being.  She was a slave to sin — especially sexual sin.  She could be thought of as a sex-addict.  Thus, in her mind, dopaminergic and serotonergic neurochemicals came into play which made her sin an addiction to her specific proclivities.   She was directed to cross over the Jordan to work out her salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2: 12).  In the Palestinian wilderness, she waged war against her passions, thought patterns, and habits by the power of the Weapon of the Cross.  She, by the working of the Holy Spirit, defeated her sinful thoughts and manner of life, and holiness was worked into every part of her being.  We call her a holy warrior, and our venerable mother among the saints. 

I am presently reading a book:  Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives (The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica).  Here are some quotes given by the saint who reposed in in Christ in 2003 in Serbia.

Our thoughts determine our whole life.  If our thoughts are destructive, we will have no peace.  If they are quiet, meek and simple, our life will be the same, and we will have peace within us.  It will radiate from us and influence all beings around us — rational beings, animals, and even plants.  Such is our ‘thought apparatus,’ which emits thoughts with which we influence all other beings (p 49).

If we have good thoughts and desires, these thoughts will give us peace and joy even in this life, and even more so in eternity (p 56).

Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture.  If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek and kind, then that is what our life is like.  If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility (p 63).

We cannot achieve salvation unless we change our thoughts and make them different…This is achieved by the work of Divine power in us.  Our minds thus become deified, free of passions, and holy.  Only a mind which has God within it and a constant remembrance of the Lord can be deified.  By knowing that He is in us and we are in Him, we can move around like fish in the water.  He is everywhere, and we, like fish, swim in Him (p 60).

St Thaddeus would, I think, confirm that the battle is in the mind.

Whether we are of faith or not, we are the captains of our consciousness.  We are in control of our thoughts.  But we who are in Christ, and have Christ in us, truly have even greater power over our thoughts.  In Christ we lack nothing, and have no excuses.  “Take every thought captive to obey Christ.”  And we pray, “Set aright our minds; cleanse our thoughts!”

Our minds are constantly active,  and can wander seemingly at will.  When a remote memory pops into my head, I ask, “Where did that come from?”  To many people who are troubled by damaging thoughts I give an illustration I call “The Pond.”  Picture a pond that has numerous over-hanging trees on its shore.  In the autumn all the leaves fall and sink to the bottom of the pond.  There they decompose.  The decomposition process will from time to time release a bubble of gas and remain for a while on the water’s surface. Here’s the parallel: “Bubbles” (our thoughts) arise into our consciousness.  If these “bubbles” are foul we are to pop them.  Such thoughts do not, and should not, remain active in our minds.  We have the power to replace them with blessings, prayers, and all that is holy and of God.  We cannot let such toxic bubbles exist!  This is a battle to engage — even if it occurs 100 times per day!  We can successfully enter into this combat because we have the Three Persons of the Trinity indwelling us!  Thus we are spiritually empowered and armed!  We find this in Psalm 38: 21 – 22:  

Do not forsake me, O Lord!  O my God, be not far from me!  Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

We are in this battle, this arena of spiritual combat.  Where are our arenas?  Where are our battle fields?  For me, it is commonly in a retail setting — especially CostCO.  (“One does not simply walk into CostCo!”)  I can be impatient with the large number of customers that move at a snail’s pace, and with those who collect around the kiosks of food samples.  To have victory in this field of battle, I must determine in advance how I will think and conduct myself!  Before entering, I must determine to act with patience, and pray for all customers I encounter.  Oh, and to smile!

Thus, all of when we enter our arenas, and our battlefields (we know where they are, and what they hold for us), we must determine in advance both thoughts and conduct.  We must have a battle plan.

We are not alone in our struggles and battles.  Our struggles are not unique to any of us.  The saints had the same struggles, and by the power of the Holy Trinity working in them, by the prayers of the Mother of God, and the saints, they won their sanctification.  And so can we!  Let us call out the Christ, “Do not forsake me, O Lord!  O my God, be not far from me!  Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”

Here is a corresponding sermon:

In Christ who gives us victory,

Fr Irenaeus