Finally, the conversation was so directed that we began with one accord to marvel at the instability and restlessness (instabilitas et inquietudine) of the human heart, to sigh over it. And the brethren earnestly entreated that they be shown the cause of these swirling thoughts (cogitationum fluctuationes) in man’s heart, and further particularly begged to be taught if such a serious evil as this could be countered by any skill or by the practice of some discipline.
Hugh of St Victor, Noah’s Ark, quoted in Hans Boersma, Pierced by Love, p. 80
I have set the Lord always before me,
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.Psalm 16:8
Pray without ceasing.
ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε1 Thessalonians 5:17
The first thing to notice is that the cause of our anxiety and misery begins very frequently in the mind. This is somewhat of a generalisation, but it is largely true. The mind, left to its own devices is a maelstrom of chaos, disorder, distraction, and instability. What is the nature of this activity?
As Hans Boersma writes, ‘Disordered thoughts…reach out to an endless array of objects, mistaking them for our ultimate good. Our thoughts reach out to so many different objects that the soul loses its stability and fails to find rest. By so exchanging the love of God with love of the world, we lost stability of heart’.
The mind is like a distracted child moving from one thing to another, demanding the parent buy him new toys because the old ones have grown old. Believe me: I see this all the time. It seems to be the natural way with children. They simply assume that the next activity or product will sate their appetite for enjoyment. They are quickly disabused of it, and they move on, demanding something else. They don’t understand that they will not find true fulfilment in these things and that they won’t even be able to enjoy them very much unless they find their proper place within their hearts.
I do this too. At the end of the day, thinking, “If only I can have dinner, have some wine, and then watch TV.” Maybe the football or something like that. I believe the lie that I will find true rest there.
But of course it is a lie because the rest I seek cannot be brought about by external circumstances, but only through a change of heart and mind.
Have you ever noticed this when you go on holiday? Perhaps you find your holidays are perfectly relaxing times. But I have often failed to find rest. Sometimes, the cessation of activity has brought anxieties and stresses to the surface that I simply didn’t have time or focus to feel before. There may be something healthy about this. I think there probably is.
But the point is that it is not what is without that can bring us peace, but that which is within. And that which is within is directly connected to our thoughts, which, if left to their own devices, are disordered, unstable, restless. They are frequently more like enemies that attack us than friends who encourage and soothe us. Like a motley crew of uninitiated recruits, they must be trained and disciplined until they are made to obey our will: ‘Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοός - be metamorphosis-ed by the re-making new of the mind]’ (Romans 12:2).
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Good Things to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.