I think because I am--but why?

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University

"Take captive every thought." 2 Corinthians 10:5
"I think therefore I am." Descarte
"I think because I am." Bill Brown

Descarte said "I think therefore I am," but equally valid is my twist, "I think because I am." In fact, we cannot stop thinking. If you don't believe it, try to think of nothing half a minute. I doubt even a Japanese Zen master can think of nothing for long. But what do we think about, and why?

Yesterday, at Xiamen International Christian Fellowship (XICF), Kirk P. told us to metacognate. That is the verb form of metacognition, meaning to "think about what we think" (and it implies that we then can influence what we are thinking). Kirk quoted the saying (attributed to Thoreau, among others:
Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."

Destiny--a big word! Many of us think of it rather like karma--something that happens to us. Kirk's point is that it can happen because of us. What we become is not just because of what happens outside of us but of what happens first inside us--in our heads and hearts. The Kingdom must begin within us before it can manifest outside of us.

Kirk's key points:
Our beliefs/thoughts produce behavior [though I would also note that our behaviour also influences our thoughts].

John 13:3-5 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. And because he knew where he was from, and where he was returning to, he then washed his disciples' feet. He knew clearly who he was, and did not need to put on airs. He knew he was in charge, so he served. Servant leadership.

Helping from Solid Footing Kirk noted we can help others only when we are sure of ourselves, and gave the example of climbing rocks (my sons I have repelled off the rocks of Xiamen with Kirk and kids; unnerving at times!). If your companion falls and you reach out to grab them, but you yourself do not have a good foothold, your overwhelming thoughts are on yourself, not the person you are trying to help. But if your footing is firm, you can concentrate entirely on helping the other person. Jesus was on solid footing, and so was able to serve wholeheartedly.

It is because of this that Kirk noted that the quality of our relationships with others depends upon the quality of our relationship with our Father. If we are secure with Him, we will be secure with others.

Kirk then urged us to "metacognate"--to think about what we are thinking so we can, as Paul said, "take captive every thought." Kirk said that when angry or irritated, metacognate! Think about what you are thinking about yourself, or the person with whom you are angry.

Kirk then pointed out many cultural and religious lies that we tend to fall for. One of the ones that struck me was "If circumstances were different, I would be different." That has a lot of implications, but before I write about it, I'll need to do some more metacognating!

Notes about metacognate:
Cognition" ability to think.
Metacognition: ability to know you are thinking (or what you are thinking).
Many argue, pretty heatedly, that metacognate is not a word. My response is--get a life. It is common in English to transform nouns into verbs, and metacognate is an excellent adaptation of metacognition because it describes, simply and succinctly, as no other English word can, the act of thinking about thinking. If the use of this word upsets you, you might want to do some metacognating yourself and ask why.

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