Thinking about Thinking...

So, I have been thinking about thinking. As confusing as that might sound, not many of us give much thought to the fact that we are thinking. Try this exercise:

Go through all of your senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste). If you stop and concentrate on each one, you discover all kinds of sensations that you never knew you had. For example, as I type I can feel the keys against my fingers. I feel my wrist rest on the laptop. I feel my shirt rubbing against my chest. I feel my hair touching my forehead. I feel the air lightly touching my arm. I feel my shoes. I feel my feet touching the floor. I could go on and on...

Yet, our minds somehow sort all of these sensations out (we only hit on touch) and give us information that is important. We are constantly in a process of thinking. Thinking is a a non-physical activity. The only way you can sort out all of these physical sensations is through your non-physical, thinking mind.

You don't see thinking. You can't measure thinking. It just happens naturally. Now, someone might come to me and say "I can measure thinking. Take a look at brainwaves and neuro-transmissions. That is thinking." While I fully admit there is a correlation between brain activity and thinking, they are not the same thing. For example, I can measure and process data about the letters I type, but that gives me no information about what the words mean. In the same way, the only way I know that brain activity is linked to thinking is because of my thinking mind which is a non-physical, first person experience.

So, the most essential part of who we are is non-physical. You could not understand the physical world without this non-physical activity of thinking. Our minds (this non-physical thinking thing) is something correlated, but distinct from our physical bodies. What I am seeking to do here is alert us to the fact that we have a soul/spirit. This soul/spirit is most properly understood in the non-physical activities of thought, emotion and will/desire.

Here is the punchline. Most of us are skeptical about the spirit world. I know that I have always considered the spirit world to be some 'other physical world' of harps, robed angels, and demons with pitchforks. I am learning now, though, that the non-physical world is actually in the realm of thoughts, emotions and desire. So, every person at every moment is having an interaction with the spiritual realm through thinking.

What I am NOT saying is that we create the spirit worlds in our minds. What I am saying is that a non-physical God (or angels and demons) can interact with us in this realm. God speaks to our hearts and minds through His Holy Spirit. It is in this realm that the Devil is active seeking to confuse and destroy us through negative and harmful thoughts.

Think about it for a second. Have you ever had a thought that was so profound that you had no idea where it came from? Could this be the activity of God? Have you ever had a completely irrational fear/anxiety that ruled you even though you did not want it to? Could this be the activity of Satan?

Because we never stop and think about the fact that we are thinking, we may be missing the key area where God is at work and Satan is seeking to destroy.