DECEMBER 5-6

“ So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” - Genesis 1:27

To truly do the subject of the miracle of the mind and it's role as co-ordinator of the body justice, I am quoting, with slight adaption, directly from “In the Likeness of God” by Philip Yancey and Paul Brand, pages 540-542.

In the darkness and silence within our skulls rests a soft, white substance that appears to have neither form nor structure. It floats, gently pulsating, in a fluid that serves to cushion it from vibration and any jarring movement of our heads. A surgeon, probing this tissue, finds no resistance to his knife. A fingertip may crush the fragile texture and break the thin walled vessels that keep the blood flowing to this realm of thought. Yet I know when our brains are viewed with clear and magnified perception, it's tiny cells stand out. Then a whole new universe appears, one that staggers all imagination. In numbers like the stars, the living cells within our brains link to each and every other cell along lively wires that crisscross the interspace in what may seem a hopeless tangle. To the “I” that lives inside that bony box, that tangle of wires carries the hum of harmonious messages that all have meaning and that are distinct and clear.

Every cell in our bodies has a place and function all it's own, and each belongs to a limb or organ represented in our heads. They keep track of every action, every stress, and every pain. When we are hiking, with my senses tuned to guide our limbs along a narrow path, or when all our conscious thought is directed toward one decision, even then a billion sequestered cells quietly keep track of how often our eyelids blink and when our bladders need to void. So in our brains our bodies come together and every part knows it's not alone. Our brains get energy and by nourishment that has been selected by the eyes, gathered by the hands, eaten by the mouth, then dissolved, transformed, and carried to the brain by a multitude of organs, the process ending when a blood cell meets a twig of nerve. In gratitude, the eyes and hands, the mouth and heart are served and are governed by the cells within the brain that make the human body truly one, and whole.

But our minds are so much more than the sum of all it's parts. Stop and think. When our eyes are closed and our limbs are still, when in the silence of the dawn our minds run free, the mists of time can rise and blow away. Our thoughts take us back in time and we become children again, playing and laughing again with children long dead and building sand castles on a beach that has been washed by tides of ages past. Unlimited by space, our minds speed and visit loved ones far away, and in a way we can't understand, can sometimes feel their need or sorrow while we pray. And sometimes, our minds take wings and fly to times ahead. We dream and see new vistas that have never been. We have ideas and know what we should do, to overcome a problem or build anew some project that, for lack of vision has been unfinished until now.

Our minds are the true meeting place between the human and divine. Within our skulls and in between our thinking cells stands the threshold of the temple of our God. There also lies the battleground between the good I desire to do and the evil I need to deny. I must struggle to prevent the daily interaction of these wondrous neurons from becoming the total substance of my conscious life; I dare not live and die with no thought that rises higher than my flesh.

Fill us, Lord, with thoughts of truth that you inspire. May our minds dwell on things of beauty and of good report, lift us above those that will debase; make us daily aware that we are made for your glory, and that in the seeking of that fulfillment lies real ecstacy of body, mind, and spirit.

Now, do you believe in miracles?

Today's music? “My Heart Your Home” - Women of Faith.

       

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here