Jimbo's Jots

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8, NIV)

The apostle Paul concludes his letter to the Philippian church by encouraging them to direct their thoughts on things that will continue to help grow their faith. While Paul was imprisoned at the time, it may have been the church that may have felt the anxious burden. So Paul sends this word of blessing and directs them to “think about” things that promote truth, virtuous, righteous, purity, lovely and admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Before I got into ministry, I worked for Rochester University as an admissions recruiter. One of my roles as a recruiter was to visit churches and talk to teens. Sometimes, I would be asked to teach the teen class. I developed an activity using the game Scattagories and would spell out the THINK. Then, we would talk about using our minds for God’s purpose.

But what happens when your thinker doesn’t work? Since the beginning of the year, I have been in contact with people who have experienced a brain trauma. This is not what they would call it, but I’m using is because that is pretty much what it is.

One story is of a woman in her 50s who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She is the wife of a family friend. She is a school nurse; he is a minister. She has gone through the surgeries and now is going through chemo and radiation. As I have talked with her husband, there is a sense of losing oneself because she is not able to think clearly as she once did.

Another story is of a man in his 50s who is still on the road to discovery as to what is going on in his thinker. As he tells the story, back in 2020 with the early diagnosis of COVID, he lost his taste and smell, but also experienced some of the “brain fog” that came with that. Over the past several months, he has noticed that there is a lapse in his cognitive process as the day progresses. Because of this, he has had to step down from a leadership position at his job. He stated recently he is visiting a brain clinic so as to hopefully find some answers.

In both cases, these two are experiencing something that they never expect. Yet, here they are. Because they are living through days of anxiety and fear due to the unknown of the next days. These two who lived and studied to become who they were in their vocation are now left wondering if they will have the cognitive stamina after diagnosis and treatments to be able to do what they have been called to do . . . and do it as they had before.

So, instead of a “learn from this and apply it to your life” writing, I simply ask you to join me in prayer for my two friends and their families. Pray that answers and healing is taking place! Pray that anxiety and worry that can overshadow any healing will be removed from them! Pray that they will be able to use their thinker as they had before!

Be blessed in your thinking! Be a blessing to others as they are thinking too!