What Comes In

When Lisa and I moved into our house, we realized something important about it: it isn't very big. It has other virtues, for example an expansive view of a lake where swans gather, ospreys circle, and bass rise. But that is its only expansive characteristic.

So we made a promise to each other early on: we wouldn't bring anything into the house that wasn't either beautiful or useful; there just wasn't room for all the ugly and useless stuff that modern human beings tend to accumulate around them. Of course, we've strayed from these criteria occasionally over the years (I was never sure that my own presence in the house satisfied either of them), but they've helped keep alot of things out that we would otherwise stumble over, need to fix, or come quickly to loathe.

Countless sages have observed that we should tend our thoughts with at least as much diligence. One of my favorite expressions of the idea comes from Lao Tzu, who said "Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."

In a similarl spirit, St. Paul writes this in his letter to the Philippians: "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." I suppose one could prepare a mirror image inventory of things to keep out of our thoughts.

But if all this seems a little tough to remember and implement on a day-to-day basis, then perhaps Lent is a good time to simply the formula and try putting it into practice. For these purposes, I like the useful and beautiful directive that Paul offers in his letter to the Colossians, exquisite in its simplicity. It goes like this:

"Set your mind on things that are above."

Amen.