mind matters

"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[e] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'^[f] The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[g]There is no commandment greater than these."" - Mark 12:29-31

What does it mean to love God with all your... mind?

This question is central to what, from Jesus' inference by quotation of the Shema in this context, it means to engage in the covenant relationship with God; both for the people of Israel through history and those who would follow him into this new movement that was being birthed before their eyes. And while at a cursory read we may feel that we understand this idea rather satisfactorily enough, there is a deeper question that must be asked first; one which we may feel that we are somewhat less equipped to engage.

That is, before we can properly address what it means to love God with all our mind, we must come to grips with - at some level - what it is that we are really referring to when we speak of 'mind'. What is it, really? What is its nature? What is its function in our lives? Our identities? Our relationships? It is only once we are aware of what we are actually talking about that we can possibly address what it means to subjugate this aspect of ourselves to the will and purposes of God in and for our lives.

It is at this juncture that I stray into the deep end of a philosophical pool in which I can, at best, paddle awkwardly and embarrassingly; really for no one else's benefit but my own and for the simple joy of getting wet. With this in mind, we proceed:

A few thoughts:

+ The mind is our lens… our interpretive eye… It is our consciousness and awareness; of ourselves and our world. It is our vehicle of perception; the means by which observations (from the input of our senses) become information. Aristotle described the mind as ‘the part of the soul by which it knows and understands’. That is to say (I think) that it is the means by which the soul reaches out to KNOW. It is the expression and vehicle of the hearts desire to understand.

+The mind turns stimulus into information and it is the storehouse of that accumulated knowledge and experience.

+The mind is the point of contact between my soul – that which is essentially ‘me’ – and everything else. As such, it is the gatekeeper to our hearts. The mind determines what information, observation and stimulus will stick with us and shape us, and what will simply be discarded. It differentiates between nutrients and waste… determines friend from foe. It is the point at which we decide who or what we allow to shape our experiences, let into our sphere or provide voice to our identity.

On the flip side, the mind is also the conscience for the dialogue of the soul itself; it is the filter between our hearts and our mouths… Between what we feel and how we act. We know this to be the case, because we have all experienced what it is like when we happen to bypass this filter in a moment of impatience or inflamed emotion.

:: In all these respects, the Mind is constantly processing input. It is constantly engaging our environment. And, in the process, it is constantly being shaped.

The question is, as we ponder Jesus' invitation to discipleship of the mind, will we engage this process; will we be intentional, or simply allow it to happen?

A few questions to guide this reflection...

+ First, what do we allow into our minds?

If you were to travel on I-95 through Rhode Island, as I do on a regular basis, you would undoubtedly notice that the section of roadway between exits 14 and 16 has a certain... essence. A presence, if you will. A sensual experience that makes its way into the airspace of your vehicle and proceeds to journey with you for several miles. It's that undeniable smell that lets me know I'm in Cranston.

I guess they have to put wastewater treatment plants somewhere...

Back in the day, these wonderful facilities didn’t exist. Biology being what it is, people of course still had to deal with the byproducts of digestion just as we do today, they just flushed it directly into the bay... or whatever body of water happened to be most convenient. Over time, we gradually realized that this was actually really detrimental to both the environment and our health…So we developed treatment plants sort the *stuff* out of our l'eau de toilette so that what finally passes through into the watershed isn’t (as) harmful.

The question is, how much stuff do we simply allow into our minds without any kind of filter whatsoever? Advertisements, opinions, images… Why is it that we treat our waste water with more prudence than what we allow into our lives? How much of our cultural refuse do we indiscriminately allow to enter and influence us without our even being aware of it?

Perhaps even more tragic are those moments when we are 'prudent' enough - exercise enough of a filter - to recognize that something is shit, and then proceed to consume it anyway. Knowing is... half the battle? Maybe. Pornography, gossip, comments and opinions we simply shouldn't give ear to, conversations that we know we simply shouldn't be having...

Having anti-virus software on your computer is one step... actually turning it on is another. You actually need to activate it in order for it to do any good. So often we engage junk with our defenses, knowingly, down… And then we wonder why the hard drive is non-functional the next day… These things we let in actually start rearranging the place… shaping their host in their own image.

+ Second, what do we allow through our minds?

Are we aware of how our own thoughts shape us? We all know those moments when thoughts just seem to make their way up from the bowels of our soul into the realm of our conscious thought. We run into a person, get into a situation, we're engaged in a simple conversation... and suddenly this voice pops in, saying things we never thought we were capable of saying; reflecting terrible, cutting judgment and a corrupt or belittling spirit. These are moments that make us glad that we have a filter between heart and mouth.

The question is, what do we DO with these thoughts? These things that stem from the depths of our own brokenness… Left to their own devices, these thoughts will cycle through our conscious and back into our hearts, to grow and ferment a little bit more before surfacing again. Do we let them? Do we even perhaps at some level - dare we say- enjoy the beast that hides beneath the surface? Though we'd NEVER give voice to this side of our personality, does it give us a sense of strength to know that the darkness is there? That it COULD be unleashed?

We need to recognize that we do not entertain this company lightly. Let's just call this... sub-letting to the devil. Our thought life WILL shape and color our heart and soul… it will. It does. Toxins don't just hang out in a system... they kill it.

If you have ever seen someone who is suffering from kidney failure, you know this. The waste which their non-functional kidneys are not removing from their blood stream is visible on their face; their complexion literally looks... yellow. When we fail to discipline our own thoughts, we knowingly allow those toxins to stay in the system. This will have consequences. So... do we allow these thoughts to cycle and ferment, or do we grab them, name them, and toss aside those things that do not reflect or produce in us the people that we know we have been created to be? Paul writes:

2 Cor 10:5 : ‘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.’

Do we address our own brokenness, or simply acquiesce?

+ Lastly, what do we allow to SHAPE our minds?

In his theory of knowledge, Aristotle states that to ‘Know’ is to have the soul become 'one in form with the object to be known'…This is described as 'isomorphism'.

That is to say that whatever it is that I seek to know; whether that be a tree, rock, or another person, it will require that I come out of myself and enter into the experience of that which I seek to know. I take its shape, allow myself to feel what it feels. I enter into your experience, and allow that to shape... me. That is why it is so profound to feel that we are in the presence of someone who truly knows us. They have, in some way, allowed us to shape them... surrendered a piece of their autonomy in order to understand who we are.

How does this inform what we mean when we say that we are seeking to know… God? How will this journey into HIS experience, HIS heart and character shape us? This gives perspective to Johns words when he says ‘Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.’ (1 Jn 4:8 )

That is to say if we haven’t been SHAPED, it means we don’t KNOW.

Our Minds, and our lives are shaped by what we pursue. What we know will precipitate the expression of who we are. Will this be God, or the inadvertent molding of our minds, and identities, by the forces of our culture? It is in this respect that Paul writes to the Roman church: ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ (Romans 12:2)

May we love God with all our mind. May we actively engage our world with genuine, critical awareness. And may we allow that awareness shape us and the lives we live.