A neuro scientist
has described the mind as “an orchestra without a conductor.” If
you pay attention to your thoughts you will see a random kaleidoscope
of topics; one leading on to another. An example: It's thundering.
Axel [my dog] is cowering under the bed. Did I feed him? Yes. He's
about out of food. When I go to the grocery I'll get some more. I ran
into Ms. Jones at the grocery last time. I need to call her and see
how she's doing. I'm bad about keeping up with my people. I don't
even call Mom as frequently as I should.” Etc. Out of this random
flow comes something that we call “I” or “me”. Did we decide
to like country [vs. classical] music, colorful [vs. subdued]
clothing, tennis [vs. jogging], blond [vs. brunette], social
settings [vs. solitude], or did it just randomly happen? Did we
choose the person that we define as our self, or did
the “self” emerge out of all the random flow of our thoughts and
experiences, perhaps unconsciously “selected” by certain genetic
tendencies?
It's an interesting
question.
However we emerged as a self, when we become aware of our awareness, we can begin to become a “conductor”. We can create a base, a foundation of who or what we want to be, and practice coming back to it from all the random rabbit trails that our mind spontaneously runs down. As in meditation one returns the mind to his breath or mantra; we can bring ourselves peacefully and consistently back from distractions to the person we choose to be: compassionate, peaceful, graceful, kind, faithful, thankful, joyful, etc. From the Christian standpoint this is what it means to “abide in Christ.” Christ [His Way] is our home base—our anchor that prevents us from drifting too long on the random seas of our arbitrary thoughts and moods. In this manner, His Spirit is shaping our personalities [like a conductor leading an orchestra]; rather than the random experiences of life combined with our natural tendency to select certain types of experiences [negative, positive, fun, exciting, fearful, etc.] to define our personality.
However we emerged as a self, when we become aware of our awareness, we can begin to become a “conductor”. We can create a base, a foundation of who or what we want to be, and practice coming back to it from all the random rabbit trails that our mind spontaneously runs down. As in meditation one returns the mind to his breath or mantra; we can bring ourselves peacefully and consistently back from distractions to the person we choose to be: compassionate, peaceful, graceful, kind, faithful, thankful, joyful, etc. From the Christian standpoint this is what it means to “abide in Christ.” Christ [His Way] is our home base—our anchor that prevents us from drifting too long on the random seas of our arbitrary thoughts and moods. In this manner, His Spirit is shaping our personalities [like a conductor leading an orchestra]; rather than the random experiences of life combined with our natural tendency to select certain types of experiences [negative, positive, fun, exciting, fearful, etc.] to define our personality.
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