LOUD NOISES

     I love this clip – it makes me laugh out loud every time!  Have you ever experienced your mind making a lot of loud noises?  Saying things to you that no one else can hear?  Trust me when I say that those noises/voices can be very loud at times and almost impossible to ignore.

     Remember a few weeks ago in class when Dr. Corsini asked us to sit in silence for a few minutes and hang out with God?  Well, it ended up being a frustrating time for me personally because my mind (part of the “immaterial me”) would not shut up.  It kept talking and reminding me of things that I was not supposed to be thinking about in light of the instructions that were given.  I found myself asking God to mute my thoughts, but it never happened (I’m not blaming God for that one).  I was so frustrated with myself, but it wasn’t like I was thinking anything improper or sinful – I just couldn’t focus on the task at hand. 

     My mind talks a lot (I really hope someone just said “mine does, too”).  Sometimes the things it says are no big deal: daydreaming, thinking about Friday while it’s only Monday, singing random songs about pick-up trucks and sweet ice tea, etc.  Other times, the noises can be damaging and defeating: reminders of past sins, reminders of early life failures, and comparing myself to other people.  The list could go on for a while.  All of us have noises in our mind that cause pain and anguish and they really can be damaging and defeating.  What can we do about those loud noises?  Additionally, what do we, as potential counselors, tell clients who come in asking us to help them overcome their noises?

     I understand that I am not yet professionally ready to sit across from another human being and tell them how they can overcome their damaging thought life.  However, I can share some areas where God has been at work in my life since that particular day in Dr. Corsini’s court room – I mean class.

     Knowing that my thoughts can be unhealthy and deceitful at times, it is important for me to develop some specific disciplines in this particular area.  It is easy for me to just sit and entertain certain thoughts without doing a single thing to fight or overcome them – I am lazy!  I am tired of allowing these voices to grow louder and louder so that they affect my relationship with God, with my family, with my friends, and in my witness to other individuals.

     I really appreciated what Dr. Hart had to say about meditation in his book, “The Anxiety Cure”.  Of course, we are all aware that there are different kinds of meditation out there today for people to experience, but Dr. Hart talks about Christian Meditation (CM). He describes CM as “the action of the Holy Spirit within the soul of the believer, releasing the presence of God to be felt and experienced down to the very marrow of every bone that brings healing” (p. 241).  I cannot overcome and rid my mind of these negative noises on my own.  I desperately need the Holy Spirit to intervene in order to be victorious in this particular battle. Meditation allows me the opportunity to seek the face of God through silence or prayer, reading or singing.  It’s about taking time to be with Him and Him alone, to be in His Word and to know what He has to say about me and my sins and my past failures.  Knowing God’s Word fills my mind with truth. Truth is a very powerful thing.  Truth brings victory, freedom, confidence, and hope.  Truth will silence the loud noises.  Jesus Christ is the Author of truth and we must seek Him constantly – for our sake and for the sake of those we will minister to one day as professional counselors.

     “…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”  Romans 12:2,3 (NIV).

    

 

Do THE WORK

Have you ever struggled, like me, with an unwanted thought that you just can't seem to control? Have you ever just wished you could have a few simple steps to get rid of your depression/sadness and just be happy and at peace again? If so, according to Byron Katie, The Work may be your answered prayer! I would love to believe her website claims, that suffering is optional, and dependent on changing your thoughts. She says her joy hasn't left her "for even a single moment" since doing The Work! She declares this can be true for every human being, and that freedom is as simple as changing your thoughts.

I found out about this program as I was listening to a friend process her counseling appointment about changing depressive, and perfectionistic thought patterns and feelings. Her counselor encouraged her to learn to ask herself 4 questions to change her thinking. She shared with me that she was really struggling with the concept of such great change being found in the 4 simple questions. Counseling supposes that there is an ideal self. It is interesting to see how many people claim they have found the way to get there! From what I've read of author Jay Adams in the book, How To Help People Change, I think he would scoff and have a field day with this suggested change process. His belief is that the heart needs alteration before any substantial change can happen, and not simply one's changed thoughts. But aren't they connected?

In class we have been discussing the immaterial aspects of a person and their ideal functioning. I am wresting with what our thoughts, and the heart actually are, how they have become so corrupt, and how change takes place in each. I think that it is not an either/or situation and that when either aspect changes, there is overlap. I know the Bible says that the heart is deceitful and in need of God, but it also addresses clearly how we need to take captive our thoughts. I think that our thoughts are a product of the state of our heart. The Work doesn't appear to come from Biblical motivation, yet it has worked for many, and in my opinion the 4 step process is Biblically based. Is this an example of all truth ulitimately being God's truth?