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Think on These Things – The Formed Future · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Philippians chapter 4 verses 8 and 9.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Finally,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: brothers,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are true,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are honorable,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are just,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are pure,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are lovely,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: whatever things are of good report,
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: If there is any virtue,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: The things which you learned,
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: received,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: heard, and saw in me, do these things and the God of peace will be with you.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Attention is part of formation.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: What we repeatedly notice begins to shape the way we see.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: What we dwell on begins to shape the emotional climate inside us.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: What we rehearse in private thought eventually becomes easier to believe.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is one reason the mind can feel so scattered.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: If we do not practice attention, someone or something will assign our attention for us.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: The loudest voice will take it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: The most frightening headline will take it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The feed designed to keep us scrolling will take it.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: So will the insult we cannot stop replaying,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: the comparison that keeps diminishing us,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: the resentment we keep rehearsing,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: or the possibility we are afraid might become real.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Paul gives us another practice.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Virtuous, worthy of praise.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Think about these things.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do not hear Paul telling us to pretend painful things are not happening.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: He knew too much about suffering for that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is not denial.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: It is intentional attention.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: There is a world of difference between seeing what is painful
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: and letting pain become the only place the mind knows how to live.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: There is the difference between recognizing danger and making danger your constant meditation.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Anxiety has its own imagination.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It rehearses loss before loss arrives.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Outrage has its own imagination.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It prepares arguments before the conversation begins.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Fear has its own imagination.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: It practices helplessness until the soul begins to assume that no faithful step remains.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says we can practice another kind of attention.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: We can deliberately place the mind where God's life is still visible.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Justice, Mercy, Faithfulness, Love.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: The ordinary signs that God has not abandoned His creation.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that is a line of scripture.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is the kindness of someone who showed up when they did not have to.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is a tree outside your window or the face of someone you love.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is a memory of mercy.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is one truth about God you need to stop arguing with long enough to receive again.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Place your attention there for a few minutes.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And when your mind drifts, because it will, bring it back gently.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: No scolding.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is practice.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The renewed mind is not a mind that never wanders.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: It is a mind learning where to return.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Think on these things is not sentimental advice.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: It is a refusal to hand your attention to every force that wants to shape you.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Attention can become a doorway to peace.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: God of peace, train my attention.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: My mind drifts towards fear, urgency, resentment, and noise.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Help me place my attention where your life is reflected.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Teach me to notice what is true, honorable, just, pure.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Lovely, gracious, and worthy of praise.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: When my mind wanders toward what drains life from me, teach me to return gently to what is true.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let my attention become a doorway to peace.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: As you leave this quiet moment, carry this prayer with you.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Train my attention.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Help me dwell where life is found.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Train my attention.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Help me dwell where life is found.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.