Philippians 4:8-9

Friday, March 7
Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32
Psalms 31, 35, 95
Philippians 4:1-9
John 17:9-19

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,if there is any excellence and

if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and hear and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

Many of us spend time thinking about the things in life that make us angry or unhappy. It may be that someone at work is annoying us, or we don’t like what the government is doing, or we think the church is going in the wrong direction, or our kids are driving us crazy. Sometimes, we not only spend time with these problems, we absolutely wallow in them. We splash around in this puddle of misery until we feel awful about life, the universe, and everything.

Paul tells us to try something different. If we are going to wallow, we should wallow in good stuff. Spend time really thinking about the truth that you are loved. Think of people who behave honorably. Think about the purity of a crisp fall day. Think about giggling children. There is plenty of good in the world, if we open our eyes to see it.

I am putting this verse on my bathroom mirror this Lent, and I am going to try to spend time each day wallowing in pleasing thoughts. I’ve never before even thought about doing that with intentionality. I’m curious to see the results.

Susan Bowen