“I believe in mind and matter, nature and nurture. . . . Just as words create worlds, thoughts create things. Not only are we thinking human beings — Cogito, ergo, sum — we also have the capacity to think about how we think. . . . That . . . capacity is unique to humankind and, in my opinion, nothing short of miraculous.”- Mark Batterson
“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them.”- Matthew 5:1-2 (NIV)
As Mark Batterson moves on in Chapter 6 of A Million Little Miracles, he underscores that our heavenly Father watches out for us in ways far beyond our paygrade. A heavenly Father who cares for us far more than we can imagine.
So, before Jesus delivered His Sermon on the Mount, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Jesus chose a picturesque place — a natural amphitheater to deliver His most important message. Because, Mark notes, what the eye sees determines what the ear hears.
Certainly, two-foot field trips serve as one way to break through eight-foot ceilings. But imagination also plays a role. Above all, imagination, according to Franz Kafka, requires no passport, contains no borders, and speaks every language. In addition, Mark notes, imagination is:
- the quintessence of the image of God.
- a superpower unique to humankind.
- is the process that allows us to break through eight-foot ceilings.
In conclusion, Mark invites us to consider the grasshopper. A grasshopper can do a thirty-inch-long jump — more than twenty times its body length. It also jumps three feet high, akin to us leaping a five-story building in a single bound.
Hence, grasshoppers testify to God’s creativity. In Job 39:20 (Contemporary English Version) God takes credit for their leaping ability. God asks Job, “Did you make them able to jump like grasshoppers?”
So, as Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver asks at the end of her poem The Summer Day:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Today’s question: Do you believe in mind and matter or mind over matter? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Only a prayer away – God”