Scripture: James 1:5-8

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Thought for the Day: The Wisdom of God’s single mind is a too-often overlooked Biblical thread that runs from Genesis through Revelation. The authors of Scripture constantly remind us that conscious awareness of, and unity with, God’s universal mind is only realized when we overcome our human tendency to doubt. We have faith in God, but little faith in ourselves. In fact, most of the time we’re told that we have no power to experience God—rather, it is God that does the connecting. And while it may ultimately be God who plugs us into a higher state of consciousness, we certainly have to be willing receptacles.

In a class at seminary I once used the analogy of humans being stuck in quicksand, and God throwing us a branch to grab onto, then pulling us out of the quicksand. One of my professors complained that the Biblical portrait was more like God lassoing us and pulling us out of the quicksand—in his view, we don’t even have the ability to grab the branch. I think this portrays us as too helpless, and certainly runs against the life and teachings of Jesus.

Jesus makes it very clear that we are to change our minds. He constantly teaches us to look at the world, each other, and our relationship with God differently. We’re supposed to love our enemies—an action we have to consciously make. We’re supposed to provide love and healthcare (Jesus heals people free of charge), and share our food and our resources with each other—all actions we have to take.

And finally, we are to pray and meditate in the manner of Jesus, so that we too can connect with the Universal Mind of God and move ever closer to the sort of intimate, unified relationship with God exemplified by Jesus. Prayer and meditation are absolutely intentional human activities, and necessary for us to reach a higher state of being.

So, never doubt that your spiritual work is important and necessary. Never doubt that when we reach out to God, God is already reaching out to us. For us to experience the One Mind of God, we too must be one-minded, always focused on an internal, metaphysical experience with God, who always pervades our reality like the air we breathe.

Prayer: Let me breathe You in, Holy One, so that I might be a breath of fresh air in a world polluted by the smog of doubt. Amen.