Psalm 148:12-13 (ESV)
Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
When have you praised the Lord?
Of the 50,000 thoughts per day we have in our head, most of these thoughts are negative, writes Scott Bea, PsyD, for the Cleveland Clinic.[1] People tell me that they seem to have no positive thoughts on their mind. They are not alone, as Dr. Bea describes, because we all think negatively to survive since our negative thoughts served a great purpose when we lived a primitive life. Our negative thoughts kept us prepared for a potential danger; we were always on guard. The challenge for us is that those dangers are behind us, and the threats before us are few, but still our negative thoughts become “sticky” and we obsess over them. The time can come when we are habitually thinking negatively. As others have written, and Dr. Bea reminds us, practice mindfulness. In other words, notice something to engage with in the present. This mindfulness helps us program in ourselves a sense of that which is right, while accepting the way it is rather than always being in “fix-it” mode. Bea suggested, “Praising others has such an impact.” Imagine that the psalmist had the answer to our age-old problem: Praise the Lord! The divine suggestion is to be grateful to the Lord, be praiseful of the Lord. Rather than engage with the sometimes useful yet hurtful thoughts of our mind, develop the habit of exalting the Lord. Allow a growing number of the daily 50,000 thoughts to be praiseful. For the good of us all, embrace an attitude of praise. The Lord’s name be praised.
In Christ,
Steve
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward, 20thcentury American motivational writer
Stephen L. Hodges © 2022
[1] https://health.clevelandclinic.org/turn-around-negative-thinking/
