A Cup of Grace – with a shot of espresso

Over the last couple of years my eating and exercise habits have changed fairly significantly. Prior to this, I would have considered myself a healthy eater. In comparison to where I’d been, I was. (I’ve been trending away from microwave burritos and chips for the last fifteen years.) I would have said that there wasn’t much room for improvement, but then my listening habits made a change.

You read that correctly.  That was not a typo. My listening habits have changed my eating and movement habits. I started listening to podcasts that focused on health and wellness.

The growing interest in these subjects can be tied to the sudden realization that I am smack in the midst of “middle-age” and moving toward “old” far more rapidly and inexorably than I like. The result was that I heard over and over again about the value of protein to muscle. If I wanted to age well (aka = slow the train to being decrepit), muscle mass mattered. I’ve been reminded (or perhaps took seriously for the first time) that what I put into my body and how I move it directly affects its ability to function well now AND in the future. 

I laughingly tell people that I’ve essentially brainwashed myself into making better choices more consistently. But there is truth in that statement. By listening to those messages repeated in many different ways by many different experts, I have influenced my thinking and thus my choices. 

I am not here to advocate some form of eating or exercise. Though, I clearly have opinions on the subjects. No, what I want you to think about is the importance of “brainwashing.”  I use that term loosely and yet very seriously. 

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are daily brainwashing ourselves.  We are daily absorbing messages and ideas that directly influence our thought and behaviors. Many of these messages we accept without a second thought because they already align with what we are thinking.

I challenge us to stop a moment. Have we ever evaluated our thoughts for truth? Or, do we just assume they are true?

What about the more subtle messages that we take in? We are surrounded by messages about what we should look like, or drive, or spend money on. The easy ones to recognize are the advertisements. But, what are the underlying ideas we absorb in the reels we watch or the posts we pause on?

Even if we vastly limit screen time (and there are few of us who don’t spend some time scrolling or watching TV), we are still receiving messages in music, billboards, conversations with others etc. You are not the independent thinker you believe yourself to be, and neither am I.  Our tastes alone are very much influenced by what we expose ourselves to and who we spend time with. We are the product of the culture we root ourselves in. Or to use the earlier metaphor: we are directly affected by the detergent we use when “washing” our brains.

What’s more is that science is exploring the connections between what we think and our biology.  The study of placebos demonstrates that what we believe has a large impact on our physical well being. There are fascinating experiments that demonstrate the power of belief on everything from our perception of pain to the level our hunger hormones (Crum)!

Beyond placebos and our biology, however,  psychology has also studied the effect of the stories we believe about ourselves. The way we give meaning to the events of our lives has perhaps MORE to do with our mental and physical health than the events themselves! Our thoughts about our situation direct our next steps. So whether you view an event as good or bad has more effect on you than the event itself (Adler).

Although this is relatively new groundwork in science, the foundational understanding that what we think is important is not new. If you are in your Bible, you will already have come across verses that tell us this. The science is interesting as it explains the whys or the hows of the truths spoken in scripture, but you don’t need it to learn the truths.  The Bible cautioned us LONG AGO about our thoughts. Science is now simply confirming what God already knew.  

Watch over your heart will all diligence for from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23

As believers in Christ, we are called to live mostly in counter cultural ways.  We are called to live in ways that are counter to SELF. How do we do that? Is this just a matter of self-discipline? No. We receive a clue in Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND…” Changing how you think changes how you behave. 

If we want our behaviors to reflect Christ, our thoughts have to change.  Simple enough.  But then again – thought patterns can be so ingrained that we don’t even recognize them as chosen thought patterns.  We view them as “facts”. We don’t stop to question them. So how do we “renew our minds” if we can’t even discern which thoughts are problems?  

Philippians 4:8-9 gives us a clear sign post:

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are pure, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy MEDITATE on THESE things.”

Imagine how our thought patterns might change if this was our “filter.” What negative self-talk would disappear? What judgmental thoughts or words of complaint would be filtered out? And this is just two verses! The Bible is full of life-giving truths and guidelines.

The only way to change our thought patterns, and real the key to identifying negative or false thought patterns, is to spend time in the Word.  Repeated exposure to truth helps us identify lies. And the most important lies to identify are the ones we tell ourselves.  This is as true for older people as it is for younger, for the older we are the more ingrained our thought and behavior patterns are. 

Are you struggling with some wrong behaviors? Are you unkind or critical? Or maybe you don’t speak the truth in love. Is pride one of your more persistent problems? What about self-hatred? Or maybe vanity, greed, bitterness, complaining..? We all struggle with something and usually many things.

It’s time to “renew our minds.” It’s time to wash our minds with God’s truths. And when we are listening to those outside sources, we need to ask ourselves if they align with what God teaches. Developing some awareness of what “detergents” we are using is the first step in the right direction. 

So what changes do we need to make in our daily routine of brain washing? Let me suggest a starting point: add a cup of scripture to your day. (I have also found that praise music acts as a brightener – especially when I’m really struggling.) Let’s make a change to our thoughts. I promise it will make loads of difference!

If you are interested in some of the studies I referenced, here’s where I heard them:

Adler, Jonathan. “Healing 2.0: Change Your Story, Change Your Life.” Interview by Shankar Vedantam, Hidden Brain Media, 30 Oct. 2023, hiddenbrain.org/podcast/healing-2-0-change-your-story-change-your-life/. Accessed 31, October 2023.

Crum, Alia. “Change Your Mindset, Change Your Game.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 Oct. 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqq66zwa7g. Accessed 15 September 2019.