Connect
Over the years, I have been amazed at the number of people who have fainted at weddings. I once caught a stricken groom; holding him up was like trying to support 200 pounds of water in my arms. Our son fell into the choir loft at his sister’s wedding --just couldn’t take it, I guess. At my own eighth grade graduation I was chosen to give the class speech --I was so scared that I wet my pants. Fortunately, my suit coat seemed to cover for me. Too bad they didn’t have those automatic drying machines in the restrooms back then. At any rate, I was certainly glad to get home that night. I’m sure everyone wondered why I was so avoidant! Even after fifty-five years of giving Sunday sermons; I’m still nervous enough to entirely upset my digestive system. You’d think that after that much time without catching a tomato in the face I would develop some degree of comfort --but, no, it hasn’t happened. Doing sermons to a camera for this coronavirus hasn’t helped! At my first sermon at the Coryland Church my knees wobbled so bad, I thought I would fall down. I remember thinking, “I’m going to fall down; should I keep on with the sermon?” Fortunately, there was the pulpit to hang onto --as well as hide behind
Feelings are the way in which we have come to talk about the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the point where our bodies and minds connect. Depending upon what our minds tell us about life circumstances, our bodies will respond by raising or lowering blood pressure, raising or lowering heart rate, tightening or loosening muscles, secreting stomach acids, releasing adrenaline into our systems, changing skin conductivity, and so on. We really never know exactly what they’re going to do next. It’s a little like Forrest Gump who said, “My momma told me, life is like a box of chocolates --ya never know what you’re gonna get.”
On the other hand, when we are happy or hopeful the body is also affected --for the better. In fact, the Bible says, “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” We know, for example, that laughter and smiles release chemicals called endorphins into the blood stream. Endorphins are actually a form of morphine produced in small, useful doses by the body itself to kill pain.
These involuntary physical responses combined with our thinking, make up what we call our emotions. Some thinking releases helpful chemicals into our systems, while other thinking releases harmful chemicals into the body. How we think does affect how we feel. Feelings are the result of how our bodies respond to what our minds think.
Since God made our minds; he knows how to take care of them; he knows what they can handle safely. Here is his recommendation: “whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). God recommends optimism as the path to good emotional health. Sound minds can only be built with good, sound, positive (but, truthful) material. When you change the way you think, you’ll change the way you feel. Look for the good. Hard times always bring out the best people –and the best in people. See the best; do all the good you can –you’ll feel better. Your mind is a sacred trust; take good care of it. Yes, it’s true, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Don’t waste yours by always thinking the worst.