What are your thoughts? Do you think you're a terrible person? That you're super awkward? That everyone is so much better than you? I personally have a lot of thoughts like that. So negative! Why do I think that way? Well, my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and social anxiety definitely play a role in gearing me toward the negative, but I think some of it is just regular self-image issues that pretty much all of us have. My thoughts can be super intrusive and won't go away no matter how much I argue with the thoughts or try to think more positively. That is because my thoughts seem so real; so true and believable; like laws from God Himself! After all, God can speak to us through thoughts, right? Yeah, God can speak through our thoughts, but we also have to remember that God's thoughts are not the same as our thoughts. Think of how God can speak to you through people. Maybe they sometimes give you advice and encouragement and other times, they scream at you, saying they hate you. Now, sometimes people really do say things that are beneficial, helpful, and filled with good, Godly stuff, but that doesn't mean that every word they say is God's command. It's the same way with our thoughts. Some thoughts are good and helpful for us, and others are downright depressing and fill us with despair. During this previous Sunday Mass, a reading was from Isaiah 55:8 saying, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts." This was something I needed to hear because I obsess over my thoughts and what they mean. I analyze them and wonder about their importance. I can have the thought, "Gee, Mass is so boring and long today." Then, I freak out about the thought. I tear it apart, for surely God is telling me I'm an idle sinner with no zeal whatsoever! No! It's just a thought. I may have a thought that I'm a terrible person, but that doesn't mean God thinks I'm a terrible person. Thank the Good Lord that His thoughts are not my thoughts! You may not have OCD or social anxiety, but I bet you have thoughts you don't like or thoughts that make you feel bad about yourself. Maybe like "I'm the most awkward person in the room," or, "I'm terrible at praying," or, "I'm never good enough." And am I the only person who has had the thought during a church service/Mass that I should stand up when everyone is quiet and start shouting (By the way, that thought is why I posted a shouting child as an attention-getting picture)? I know, it's bizarre and ridiculous, but let's take it for what it is: a thought. Push it aside. It doesn't define you and it is not necessarily the voice of God. God is so fabulous and out of this world that there is no way his thoughts are like our thoughts! Phew! What a relief!
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AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
April 2021
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Unexpected Church MembersAll words that are underlined can be found on the "Glossary" page
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