Wrong. Knowing a person’s thoughts does not necessarily mean you can control them. Such a notion is only born out of science-fiction fantasy. You can read a book but you can’t exactly change the words (and no, vandalizing it doesn’t count).
As a former severe bipolar patient, I have some pretty strong personal experiences with unwanted thoughts and feelings. From that experience I can agree with you that you cannot control them directly – at least in “real time.” Of course, you can choose what you wish to think about and that offers a bit of control, but if you’re doing it to avoid thoughts you’re tempted to think then it often backfires. It’s like the old joke, “don’t think about a pink elephant.”
I like the t-shirt I saw on one guy, that read, “since you read this, I just controlled your mind for three seconds.”
Given all that, my experience has also shown what we CAN do. We can feed ourselves the Word. We can question our dearly held beliefs. We can pray and fast and do works of mercy. We can engage in silent (contemplative) prayer forms, thus inviting the H.S. to come in and renew us and give us the experience of true union with Christ. (See
CCC 2697-2724) We can listen to people whom we think don’t have anything useful to say, and try to see their wisdom. We can seek the guidance of a competent Spiritual Director.
In short, we can do things to quit protecting the “bushel” that hides our light (our “false selves,”) and invite God in to renew our minds and spirits.
When this happens, true healing takes place. Not control of the symptoms, like what medication does, but actual healing, where your whole world view is turned upside down, and through much testing and striving, one starts seeing things differently and thinking differently and consequently feeling differently. This may sound difficult, but that’s one of the reasons I believe God allows hardships – because they break down all the beliefs and thoughts we ever had, gradually or all at once (as in Paul-to-Saul) to where we know not just in our minds but in our hearts that we are utterly helpless without God. Then we cry out with a prayer akin to “God, help me,” and this time really mean it. God might just say to us, “do you
really think you can hear and understand me now?” To which we reply “yes Lord,” thinking now God will shower us with blessings – but alas, we might just have to endure more tests before we see the blessings manifest themselves in our hearts, minds, and least and last, worldly circumstances.
Conclusion: we cannot control what we think, short term. We can, however, submit ourselves freely and submissively to God and allow Him to redesign our hearts and spirits and minds, and at that point we will gain the wisdom to know how to deal with any troubling thoughts that remain.
Or, we can be stubborn and cling to our thoughts and beliefs and our patterns of repeated failure and say the same prayers and read the same scriptures and still not “get it.”
Alan
penWindow(‘cr/395.htm’)
The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him."275
