I found an introduction to a sermon that I wrote fifteen years ago (seems like a different lifetime). I thougth I would share it with my newfound friends at Fuquay-Varina Presbyterian Church.
I gazed out my office window (no doubt worried about something long since forgotten), when I saw my eight-year-old son, Brennan, walking across our front yard. The look of carefree wonderment upon his face said, “I am alive and life is good. The grass is wet between my toes, and mommy is making pancakes in the kitchen. This is my home and it is too early in the day to be bored.” His expression of freedom and contentment took me back to my own childhood because once upon a time (just like you) impossible dreams fueled my imagination, the knowledge that I was secure made me brave, and I couldn’t hate anyone or anything – at least for long.
I really miss those days. His childhood. My childhood. The world seems so much darker and more dangerous now. Maybe it’s because I spend to much time doom-scrolling. Dear always seems a few footsteps away.
Did you know that the emotion of fear activates more than 30 different hormones in our body? When folks say that fear or bitterness can eat you up inside, they are speaking the truth. There are biblical, intellectual and medical reasons to keep positive!
Someone has said that the toxic waste generated by toxic thoughts causes the following illnesses: diabetes, cancer, asthma and allergies. I don’t know if that particular author was a medical doctor, but he absolutely recommended a brain detox.
This is not a bad idea. Changing our thinking is essential to detoxing the brain. Consciously controlling our thought life means not letting negative thoughts rampage through our mind. Or maybe we need to putdown the phone or just turn off the TV? Its not too hot. It’s not too cold. It’s about the right temperature – and time to step outside and bask in the sun. So, here’s some unsolicited advice for the merry month of May:
“Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whateveris lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)