A Renewed Mind

I’ve previously mentioned that a spiritual resource that many of my Christian patients find meaningful is Sarah Young’s devotional, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. It’s a collection of daily reflections written as if Jesus is speaking directly to us. They are words of encouragement, comfort, and reassurance based on Jesus’s own words of hope, guidance, and peace within Scripture.

This book’s readings for today particularly spoke to me. I should also say that I’m drawn to understand and envision the speaker of these words as “the Beloved,” one of any number of names we can use when seeking to describe our experience of the loving and transforming Presence within and beyond all things. These names include “Holy One,” “Divine Presence,” “God,” “Jesus,” “Living Light,” “Great Spirit,” “Sacred Mystery”. . . the list goes on.

Following is my slightly-adapted version of the today's reading from Jesus Calling, a reading that is inspired by Romans 12:2, Hebrews 3:1, and Psalm 105:4.

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I am renewing your mind. When your thoughts flow freely, they tend to move toward perceived problems. Your focus gets snagged on a given problem, circling round and round it in attempts to gain answers and solutions. Your energy is drained away from other matters through this negative focus, Worst of all, you lose sight of Me, your Beloved One.

A renewed mind is Presence-focused. Train your mind to seek Me in every moment, every situation. Sometimes you can find Me in your surroundings: a lilting birdsong, a loved one's smile, golden sunlight. At other times, you must draw inward to find Me. I am always present in your spirit. Seek My Face, speak to Me, and I will light up your mind.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Be In My Mind, Beloved One
• Stepping Out of Time and Resting Your Mind
• Returning the Mind to God
• The Soul’s Beloved
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Resting in the Presence of the Beloved
• Beloved and Antlered
• Meeting (and Embodying) the Lover God
• Aligning With the Living Light
• The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
• In the Stillness and Silence of This Present Moment
• A Prayer for the Present Moment
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• Giving Thanks: A Spiritual Act of Trust
• Surrendering in Sacred Trust

Image: Artist unknown.