Exercise One: Think about God!
Mar 29, 2021 08:00 · 2180 words · 11 minute read
Hello everyone i greet you from poland all of you from saint dominic parish and everyone who attends masses there our lantern retreats the theme of our lantern retreats this year is how can you find peace peace of god in troubled times how can we find peace of god in our troubled times so how to keep god’s peace in traumatic situations or just in difficult everyday events during our retreat this year we go to saint paul who writes to us in his letters that each of us can learn peace can learn peace of heart it is not something inherent or meant for the special group any christian can learn it any christian can learn the peace of god this is the nature actually of christian peace that we can learn it that inner heart balance awareness of god’s presence and a sense of his all-encompassing protection how then can you learn god’s peace or how to find god’s peace saint paul gives us three exercises first training to think practicing thanksgiving and exercising in love today is the first exercise training your thoughts training in thinking exercise to think so to keep god’s peace especially in difficult situations we need to think differently in order to keep peace of god we need to think differently we have to change every day in small steps our old ways of thinking it means thinking about something big important that is thinking about god his words and his works this will allow us to remain calm in any situation that’s what saint paul teaches us and the psalmist in psalm 78 teaches us let us not forget the great works of god for israelites the memory remembering great works of god was very important part of their faith it is the same with us to remember to recall to allow to enter into our minds the great works and words that god said and done in the history of humankind and in my own history of life recall what has god done in your life since your birth there is an interesting story about a certain gathering of devils so the devils get together and they talked about how to deceive people so that as many of them as possible will go to hell one devil said i have a good idea i am going to tell people there is no hell with that idea i will not deceive many people replied the other’s devils unfortunately many people already know that there is hell so the other said i have a good idea i’ll tell people there is no god the second devil replied to him it is too late for such a procedure many people in the world know that god is and they believe in him the third devil thought for a long time and then said i will tell people that they don’t have to worry about heaven or hell that they don’t need to think about god let them play do whatever they want let them think about whatsoever accept god i will tell them that they will still have time to think about god well dear friends of barbados we do not have much time for this the devils have figured out a good way to lie to to men to deceive us the fact that man has a lot of time on earth and still has time to think about god it’s a lie we don’t have much time thinking about god’s things about god is a powerful source of god’s peace imagine a time when we were in love or we just love someone how much thinking about that person silencing our thoughts make us peaceful thinking about that particular person time spent together with him or her or even about love this kind of thinking gives us more peace then there is a situation where other more unpleasant thoughts have less access to us because we are strong with the thoughts about love it is similar with god we can if we don’t have it now learn to think about him and about god’s things for example we can learn to care for god’s interests for his business and affairs when zeal for his house and his affairs consumers we always feel peace other things then some more mundane difficulties reach us yes but do not kill us they only sting like a pin but it is a prick through the thick clothes and not directly into our skin because we have a sense of the meaning of our lives in god in his letter to the philippians paul encourages us whatever things are true whatever things have honor whatever things are upright whatever things are holy whatever things are beautiful whatever things are of value if there is any virtue and if there is any praise give thought to these things and the god of peace will be with you thoughts about god give us peace internal balance because they are like a warm safe cozy home we feel good in these thoughts and in god’s matters thinking about god and his matters it’s a rescue even tangible physical in various difficulties and situations when you literally live in some prison thoughts of god may be just such a home for you a springboard from the prison situation rest breath peace freedom which is the opposite of your prism many people who survived auschwitz for example they were people who thought about god about their relatives about hope hope when you are sick then think about god it can be relief and health for you think about god’s words and about god deeds in the history of humankind and in your history when you were just betrayed abundant come to live in god cuddle up to him thinking about him and his matters you may then ask yourself how did he experience the betrayals rejection in such a situation you can think about him thoughts about god can comfort you forgetting betrayal for a moment some saints say that the best therapy for our troubled lives for our sufferings and difficulties is to meditate the passion of christ the passion of christ jesus in that passion you can find similar experiences to yours and moreover jesus in his passion is carrying your troubles your sufferings and sins you can reunite with him in your sufferings when you are broke you have lost everything home estate maybe your loved ones thoughts about god can be your wealth can be your everything can be your peace thoughts about god great things god’s things what are these thoughts every man has a different way of thinking about god and this is beautiful you each one of you has a different way of thinking about god for one man thinking about god will be praising god thanking him expressing love to him in thought and receiving love from god savoring the thought of his love unconditionally always present the one that isaiah describes beautifully in chapter 49 he wrote but zion said the lord has abandoned me and the lord has forgotten me can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb even these may forget but i will not forget you behold i have inscribed you on the palms of my hands your walls are continually before me isn’t that thought comforting isaiah chapter 49 verses 14 16.
still for another person it will be a repetition of a short acts or prayers my god save me save me god have mercy on me a sinner jesus i trust in you you can repeat all the sentences that you like most still for another person thinking about god may be wandering over various matters of faith god spirituality because someone for example is interested in it and is looking for answers to many related questions about faith for still another person thinking about god may be repeating a sentence heard or read today from the gospel for instance god sent his son to the earth not to condemn the world but to save it is it that comforting your thinking about god includes your experience your age your sensitivity your faith your knowledge your kind of piety ways of practicing faith your personality character interests etc use them all in thinking about god how can we think more about god about the things of the lord describing how we should think about these things paul uses the word logistoma e which can mean count or estimate in other words paul says that if we want peace we should think hard and long about the basic truth contained in the holy scriptures just like an accountant counts and checks documents modern guides only advise not to meditate not to think too much not to think so hard about everything in life rather they say relax and look for experiences which we enjoy go superficially through your life saint paul says christian peace is working exactly the opposite way it does not come from thinking less but from thinking more and with greater commitment about the most important things in life paul says if we don’t experience as believers as the christians peace or we don’t have much peace in ourselves it may be because we think too little about god and his deeds his words and his affairs peace comes from disciplined reflection on our faith meditation on our faith on jesus on god in our lives reflect and engage as an accountant in god’s affairs saint paul calls us to think about great sublime matters that we may understand who god is and what he has done who we are in christ and where is history going thanks to this we will look at our problems and life from the perspective bearing in mind that what christ suffered in our name what he has done for us about miracles about his words about sufferings about the cross about death about resurrection about all the promises he has made to us and what he is still doing to us saint homas aquinas wrote the world would collapse if god doesn’t hold it every day learning to think god’s way is not easy see with god’s eyes and judge according to his criteria it’s not easy when jesus appeared he advised the jewish leaders to those who had a misconception about him he said do not judge by appearances but past judgment righteously he admonished the pharisees who could not recognize him as the messiah you judge according to human principles only but my thoughts are not your thoughts said god in isaiah chapter 55 verse 8 this is not how men sees god this is not how man sees god sees because man looks at what is visible to the eyes the lord on the on the other hand looks at the heart we read in samuel chapter 16 verses 7.
thinking about god allows you to stay calm in life because it allows us to look at our situation differently at our lives differently from different perspectives the psalmist understood perfectly well the value of thinking about god calling out i will bless you as long as i live i will lift up my hands calling on your name my soul shall be seated as with choice food with joyous lips my mouth shall praise you i think of you upon my bed i remember you through the watches of the night you indeed are my savior and in the shadow of your wings i shout for joy my soul clings fast to you your right hand upholds me that’s psalm 63 so here is an exercise for you dear sisters and brothers try to do them in your free time during prayer or during sports or when cleaning the house the exercise about thinking about god about god’s words about god’s deeds what are your most calming thoughts ask yourself what are your most karmic thoughts that calm you that gives you peace what are those thoughts what topic related to god gives you peace of heart what topic related to god gives you peace of heart find them what truth of faith gives you the most peace what sentence or passage from the bible i would like to learn by heart and repeat it often what is the sentence or passage from the bible i would like to learn by heart and repeat it often when i am in difficult time or maybe already i have it and i repeat it so continue it that’s our first exercise the exercise of thinking how to get god’s peace it can be learned the first lesson we got from saint paul is by thinking exercise to think about god’s things about big things about god’s words and his deeds thank you for your listening god bless you and see you in the next conference you.