This morning I was lying awake in bed & musing. The discussion of several days ago on St. Paul's idea of thinking about the lovely & the true came to my mind. I had a couple of new thoughts that I'd like to share.
In meditation & contemplative prayer we are to let extraneous thoughts go by without attachment, such as let them float off on a log down the river. Do not dwell on them. Keep our mind on God, our sacred word, the scripture or whatever anchors that particular contemplation.
In life we could do the same thing with the ugly. Do not dwell there. Do not take it in. Be aware it is there, but do not allow it to enter so that we embody it. Just as when I take the bread & wine on Sunday, I take it into my being as Christ, becoming part of the body of Christ & the body of Christ becoming part of me. My body accepts the wine & bread, & it (Christ) then becomes indistinguishable from me.
I do not choose to take in rotten food, & let it become part of me. I can choose to not take in rotten thoughts & let them become part of me. I can notice rotten food is there. I can do something to remove it, but I don't have to take it in. I can notice rotten things in life & do things to remove them, but I don't have to take them in. I can dwell on the true & lovely rather than dwell on the opposite.
Where our mind & heart are, there will be our life experience.
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