Thinkin'

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Thinkin'."

Do a quick search of the news and you'll find trouble, strife, tension, fear, and, in the end, a lot of questions about what is and isn't true. There is no end to websites that will offer dramatic warnings about how the Democrats are going to lead us into socialism or worse and the Republicans are going to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the elderly while pandering to the rich. Ask most non-whites if racism is alive or dead and I don't think I have to tell you the answer you'll get. Marriages are falling and failing. Families are being torn apart by abuse and disuse. The economy is in a pit too deep to fathom right now and the answers we're getting don't seem to be answers to the questions we're asking. Our political candidates are "bad" and "worse", but if you don't vote for "bad", you'll get "worse" apparently. Education is declining. The church is in trouble in so many quarters. It just looks so very bad.

And then I call to mind ...

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Phil 4:8).

Where does all that stuff that discourages and oppresses and worries and frightens us these days fit in the categories of Philippians 4:8? I'm pretty sure they don't.

I'm not opposed to the news. I'm not opposed to being informed. I'm not opposed to knowing what's going on. Paul says, however, that we aren't to live there. Where are you spending most of your mind? Thinking on the world around us and its difficulties? Or pondering the true, the honorable, the just, the pure, the lovely, the commendable, the excellent, the praiseworthy?