By: Dr. James L. Snyder
Everybody knows certain situations calls for some serious thinking. My problem and I think I share with other people still breathing, I do things without thinking it through.
Most people, and I include myself in this group, have not had a serious new thought in years.
I do not include the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage in this group for she is always thinking up something new. At least from my perspective, it seems to be new. Then, how do I know it is really new? I just take her word for it, which makes for peace in our home. Most homes are full of pieces while our home is full of peace.
My thinking is simply this; a peaceful home is a home I want to live in. That is as far as my thinking really gets. Often she will complain to me she has a headache. I don’t wonder because of all the thinking she does. If I did half the thinking she did, my head would be thumping for a year.
My philosophy is, let other people do all the hard work of thinking up new things to do.
I suppose it would be good to think of something new and create something everybody wants to buy. That is one way to make money.
I look at some things created in the world that have changed the way people live and often I say to myself, “If only I would’ve thought of that.” Then, thinking takes a lot of energy and who has energy to spare these days?
When it comes to thinking, I am three winks short of a snooze. Why should I think when everybody else is thinking for me? I know there is the attitude of self-esteem that you should not let other people think for you. I come back and say, “Why not?”
What is so bad about other people doing most of the thinking?
In our home, for example, my wife does all the thinking. This allows me to indulge in the wonderful habit of not thinking. I know I have a brain. I know God gave me a brain to use. I also know I do not want to over use my brain. I am saving some real thinking time for when I am too old to do anything else.
Right now, I can enjoy myself with a variety of physical activities. Well, not so much physical and when I come down to it, not too much activity either. I like to think I am doing something along that line.
There I go thinking again. If only I would just leave it alone and simply enjoy life as it comes.
Perhaps that is what is wrong with people. They just think too much. Something happens and it gets them to thinking about this, which makes them think about that, which then causes them to think about something else, which then causes them to get lost in their thinking.
What it is, people just think too much. For most people, they do not have much of a base for their thinking.
A great philosopher, I can’t think of who, once said, “I think and therefore I am.”
If only I would’ve thought of that. In thinking of that, I am a little confused as to what in the world that philosopher meant. Does he mean, if I don’t think, therefore I am not?
Me thinketh that he thinketh way too much. Now I have a headache!
I would not mind if people did some thinking if their tongue was not attached to that thought. Why is it everybody has to tell me what they are thinking at the time they are thinking it?
Invariably somebody will come up and say, “I was just thinking…” I know I am in for an extreme tongue-wagging session and nothing I can do about it. Once somebody gets to thinking, it is very hard to turn off that spigot.
If only I would’ve thought of some way to keep people who are thinking from telling other people what they are thinking I would become a very rich person.
Then there is that oxymoron when you meet somebody and they begin with, “I was just thinking about you…” For the next 45 minutes, I will have to hear what they had been thinking about me.
If there is any insomnia, this will cure it once and for all.
If only I could think of something to say when somebody begins talking to me about what they are presently thinking about. My problem is, my thinking machine is on vacation most of the time.
Once I was sitting in a cafeteria by myself, drinking some coffee and enjoying the quiet when somebody approached me and said, “Hey, what’re you thinking about?”
It is very awkward when somebody asks me that because I have not been thinking about anything. Is it really important to be always thinking about something? I once responded to someone by saying, “Oh, I’ve been thinking about nothing.” They looked at me rather strange trying to think of what I have not been thinking of at the time.
The apostle Paul was right when he wrote, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).
If I am going to think, I want my thoughts to honor God and not be just about myself.
Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.
