Let Jesus do the talking!

Matthew 9:14-15

John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’

Food for thought!

John's disciple came to Jesus after they had observed his disciples behaving differently; they wanted to know why their behaviour was not like theirs. Their behaviour had changed; THEY WERE DIFFERENT. ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ They said.

Jesus' disciples were different because they had taken a stand. After knowing Jesus, they just could not be like they didn't know him. They were different because of Jesus. No one can take Jesus serious and be the same; something in us has to change because of Jesus; there has to be something we are or we do because of Jesus. If people don't see any difference in us, if we are like anybody else, then we are not yet Christians.

So the question is, what is it that you do different? Are you like anybody else? What do you do just because of Jesus? Do you dare to be different, or you follow the mob? Can you say like Paul said: "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8).

What Paul is saying is that, after knowing Jesus, he is different; he now counts everything as loss because of and after knowing Jesus. And this is what the disciples of Jesus did: because of Jesus they were no longer observing some traditions and rules.

I like the fact that Jesus replied; he explained his disciples' behaviour: ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’ Some times we do well to let Jesus do the explanation about us. There are many mysteries about us, about others that we just can't explain. The only one who can answer for us is the Lord. To him be glory and honour and praise both now and for ever.

There cannot be victory without a fight!

Luke 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’ Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?’

Food for thought!

Jesus said (and says) to his disciples that things will get worse before they get better. He knows that he is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the religious people and political leaders of the people. He knows too that he will be put to death, and that he will be raised up on the third day. Jesus is talking of himself, yes, but also he is talking of every human. Suffering comes before victory; indeed, there cannot be victory without a fight; no crown without a cross; no Easter Sunday without Good Friday; no day without a night.
This is why Jesus exhorts us to take our cross, our struggle, our fight every day and follow his example, because this is the way we can ever make a difference in the world. Here Jesus lays down the conditions of service for those who would follow him in trying to make a difference in their life and in the lives of others.
He says that we must deny ourselves. What does that mean? A great scholar comes at the meaning in this way. Peter once denied his Lord. That is to say, he said of Jesus, "I do not know the man." To deny ourselves is to say, "I do not know myself." It is to ignore the very existence of oneself. It is to treat the self as if it did not exist. Usually we treat ourselves as if our self was the center of the world. If we are to follow Jesus' example, we have to know that the center of the world is God and not man.
He says that we must take up our cross. What does that mean? To take up our cross means to be prepared to face things; it means to be ready to endure the worst that man can do to us for the sake of being true, for the sake of doing and being good. As we said yesterday, whenever we do the right thing, we are bound to be criticized and "crucified" by others.
He says that we must spend our life, not hoard it. The whole gamut of the world's standards must be changed. As yesterday's message put it, the questions are not, "How much can I get?" but, "How much can I give?" Not, "What is the safe thing to do?" but, "What is the right thing to do?" Not, "What is the minimum permissible in the way of work?" but, "What is the maximum possible?" The Christian must realize that s/he is given life to spend it for others, just as Jesus did. 

Cr

It is Lent!

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what
your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’

Food for thought!

As we enter into Lenten period, Jesus gives us some dos and don'ts. The dos are intended for getting benefit from Lent; the don't are meant to minimize the losses. He groups them into three areas: giving to others (charity); giving to God (prayer); and giving to ourselves (fast).

Jesus says, "when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you." What does he mean by this? Firstly, Jesus says, WHEN YOU GIVE, not, IF YOU GIVE. It means that in this time of Lent we are expected to give, to share with others. Giving is not optional (it is not "If you give" but mandatory: "when you give"). Giving is vital, because it is by giving that we get. In order to get we must give.
That is the rule. And it works in every sphere of life, business, social, relationships, spiritual. You get in as much you give, as St. Francis so well taught us:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

And then Jesus says, "when you pray," not, "if you pray." It means that in this time of Lent prayer is a must. We pray every day, but in this time, it must doubled. Why? Because Lent is like going into a warfare. It is a matter of life and death. If we don't pray enough, we can lose the battle. As St Paul urges us: "Pray without ceasing." (1Thessalonians 5:17). Christ himself admonishes us: "Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38). St Theresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church, makes it potently clear: "He who neglects mental prayer needs not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands.

We are not talking now about our regular, daily quiet-time prayer habits, important as they are; we are talking about crisis-time prayers. Prayers of importunity and intensity. Prayers during life-threatening or soul-shattering events. “Pray hard and long,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 6: 18.

And again Jesus says, "When you fast"; he does not say, "if you fast." So fasting too is a must in this time of the year. When you fast, "put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is
done in secret will reward you.’" This is the time to fight all evil in ourselves; this is the time to starve evil to death. Fast is not necessarily of food; it is anything that, by abstaining from it, gives both our bodies and spirit more life. This is the time to cease doing evil and to learn doing good (Isaiah 1:16-17).

HAVE A NICE A BLESSED LENTEN SEASON!

Or do you not remember?

Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’

Food for thought!

The incident in this gospel is very revealing of the disciples of Jesus. Although they had witnessed Jesus perform many miracles, they still had doubts about who He really was. Just as we have seen God work miracles in our own lives, yet we so easily forget them. Jesus says, “Don’t you remember” (Matthew 16: 9)?

And Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’

The Disciples were truly the closest men to the Son of God; yet, we see that even they were slow to learn about who Jesus really was. They saw with their own eyes all of the miracles He performed, but they still could not connect the dots. A little surprising… don’t you think?

What Jesus teaches here is the failure to learn from experience. The Pharisees were awhile ago demanding a sign from Jesus (as we saw yesterday) because they weren't seeing any sign of God from experience. They weren't learning anything from life; nothing! Why demand a miracle when miracles are all over?

This is the lesson that the disciples missed, just as we often do. Even after experiencing and witnessing the miracles of Jesus, they could not still connect the dots. They could think of nothing but the fact that they had forgotten to bring loaves, and that, unless something happened, they would go hungry. Jesus saw their preoccupation with bread. He reminded them that twice he had satisfied the hunger of huge crowds with food enough and to spare. It is as if he said, "Why all the worry? Don't you remember what happened before? Hasn't experience taught you that you don't need to worry about things like that if you are with me?" DO YOU STILL NOT GET IT?

The odd fact is that we learn only half the lessons of experience. Too often we too fail to learn from experience. Sorrow came--and we came through it still erect. Temptation came--and somehow we did not fall. Illness took us--and somehow we recovered. A problem seemed insoluble--and somehow it was solved. We were at our wits' end--and somehow we went on. We reached the breaking point--and somehow we did not break. We, too, are blind and slow learners. If we would only read the lessons of experience aright, they would teach us not pessimism but optimism; the things each one of us has gone thru, ought to teach us to trust God in the things yet to come; if God has brought us this far in safety, God can bring us through anything that may happen to us. Or you don't still get it?

Why does this generation demand a sign?

Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came up and started a discussion with Jesus; they demanded of him a sign from heaven, to test him. And with a sigh that came straight from the heart he said, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no sign shall be given to this generation.’ And leaving them again and re-embarking, he went away to the opposite shore.

Food for thought

Sometimes we get used to the ordinary, and we begin to take the ordinary for granted, and then start to look for the extraordinary, the abnormal and the sensational. We do this even with God. The people in the Gospel reading of today came to Jesus and demanded “a sign from heaven.”

When the Pharisees came to Jesus and demanded something extraordinary, something uncommon, they were looking for some ABNORMAL event that defies the laws of nature; something to entertain themselves with. To Jesus such a demand was not due to the desire to see the hand of God at work; it was due to the fact that they were blind to the hand of God at work in him. They forgot, as we do often, that God is everywhere and in every event of life: "In him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

Do you see God's hand at work in your life, or in the life others? Or you see your life as a mess without meaning, without sense? Or you are able to see meaning and sense and the hand of God at work in your life? To Jesus the whole world is full of God's presence; the corn in the field, the leaven in the loaf, the grass on the hillside, the new born baby all speak of God. Jesus did not think that God had to break in from outside the world; he knew that God was already in the world for anyone who had eyes to see.

Someone once said, "Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." This poet was referring to Moses and the burning bush. Why does anyone ask a sign from God when morning after morning he or she wakes up from sleep alive, when everyday the sun arises, each night the stars appear, each morning the thirsty grass is wet with dew; the corn fails not its harvest, nor the air stops to blow. Imagine what would happen to the airplanes if all the air stopped blowing, what would happen to you and me if all the air disappeared? From him who has eyes to see and a heart to understand, the daily miracle of night and day and the daily splendour of all common things are enough sign from God.

Do not tell anyone!

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: "Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people." But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out- of- the- way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

Food for thought!

It is curious and interesting. Jesus is telling someone not to tell anyone: "Say nothing to anyone." The common practice is the opposite, especially when we do something good. We even call the Press to come and broadcast what we have done. Not so with Jesus. But why would Jesus tell anybody not to tell anybody?


The lesson is simple: Not everything Jesus does for us or tells us is for telling; there are things Jesus tells us not to tell anybody; they're things Jesus tells us to do that we cannot tell anyone about, things that make sense to only the Lord and ourselves. Indeed, if and when we tell others such things, we do more harm than good both to Jesus and to ourselves.

Look again at the gospel of today, because the man didn't keep quite as told, "Jesus kept to out- of- the- way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city."

Imagine Jesus no longer free to move about, and no longer able to operate just because of the good he did to a bad man. The man made a disservice to Jesus' ministry and service just because of his imprudence; the man disobeyed and what would have been a great testimony to the priests went untold. Jesus told the man to tell no one but the priests; the man went out and told everyone but the priests! The priests missed Jesus' message because the man didn't go to them. Yes, there're many things that we cannot and we should not tell anyone about.

This gospel is also about us. That there're things others tell us that we must keep to ourselves, things they share with us that we cannot tell anyone without causing great damage to our friends' reputation. Oh yes, there are brothers and sisters of ours who are no longer moving about freely because we damaged their reputation. In other words, not all we know about others is for telling. "Do not tell anyone" is still a good council to many of us.

Thank God for what you have & share it with Others!

Mark 8:1-10

One day about this time as another great crowd gathered, the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples to discuss the situation. “I pity these people,” he said, “for they have been here three days and have nothing left to eat. And if I send them home without feeding them, they will faint along the road! For some of them have come a long distance.” “Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?” his disciples scoffed. “How many loaves of bread do you have?” he asked. “Seven,” they replied. So he told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces and passed them to his disciples; and the disciples placed them before the people. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to serve them. And the whole crowd ate until they were full, and afterwards he sent them home. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day and when the scraps were picked up after the meal, there were seven very large basketfuls left over!

Food for thought!

Have you ever felt hungly while sitting at a dining table, or felt sick while in hospital, or felt dry while inside a church, or felt in need of love with your spouse around...? This is what the disciples did. They felt empty, insufficient, limited, while in the presence of Jesus. Jesus had said, “I pity these people, for they have been here three days and have nothing left to eat. And if I send them home without feeding them, they will faint along the road! For some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples responded, “Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?”

The disciples are frustrated and don't know what to do; they're with Jesus and they're are confused; they've Jesus and don't know what to do; they followed Jesus and don't know him. And so in order to open their eyes, Jesus makes a question to the disciples: “How many loaves of bread do you have?” This question reminds us several things: that sometimes we need what we have, we cry for what we possess, we search for what we already have; we're poor with all our talents and God given gifts with us; we don't see opportunities while God gave us eyes to see; we suffer when we have the cure with us; we starve with food in our hands; we have questions whose answers we know; we're ignorant with our brains in our head; we don't know with all the knowledge around.

How much bread do you have? How much intelligence do you have? How many talents do you have? How many friends do you have? How much luck and opportunities and money do you have? Not much? Do like Jesus did: Giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected."

Jesus did the following: 1) gave thanks for the seven loaves of bread. In other words, Jesus did not complain but thanked God for what he had. Do you ever thank God for what and whatever you have? 2) Jesus then broke them and shared them. Do you remember to share the little you have, or you think it is too little to share? So there're two things Jesus did to make the miracle: thank God for what and whatever he had; share what and whatever he had. Try this and you will have the miracle done by you. Thank God and share.

Everything he does is wonderful!

Mark 7:31-37

From Tyre he went to Sidon, then back to the Sea of Galilee by way of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and everyone begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man and heal him. Jesus led him away from the crowd and put his fingers into the man’s ears, then spat and touched the man’s tongue with the spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed and commanded, “Open!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly and speak plainly! Jesus told the crowd not to spread the news, but the more he forbade them, the more they made it known, for they were overcome with utter amazement. Again and again they said, “Everything he does is wonderful; he even corrects deafness and stammering!”

Food for thought!

This story is of a man with double jeopardy! He was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. No doubt the two things went together; it was the man's inability to hear which made his speech so imperfect. This was a special case that needed special handling. There is no miracle which so beautifully shows Jesus' way of treating people.

(i) He took the man aside from the crowd, all by himself. Here is the most tender considerateness of Jesus. Deaf people are always a little embarrassed. In some ways it is more embarrassing to be deaf than it is to be blind. Many times it is only the deaf person who knows that he cannot hear; and when we talk to one, we talk as if we are talking to a normal person, only to find out later that the deaf was not hearing a thing. Jesus showed the most tender consideration for the feelings of a man for whom life was very difficult. The whole story shows us most vividly that Jesus did not consider the man merely a case; he considered him as an individual the man had a special need and a special problem, and with the most tender considerateness Jesus dealt with him in a way that spared his feelings and in a way that he could understand.
We can learn from and after Jesus. When we want to correct someone, we do well to take them aside, away from the public, and speak to them there. Secondly, when we deal with physically challenged people, let us be considerate. We need to learn the philosophy behind Para-Olympics.
(ii) Throughout the whole miracle Jesus acted what he was going to do in dumb-show. He put his hands in the man's ears and touched his tongue with spittle. In those days, as in ours too, people believed that spittle had a curative quality. When we cut our finger, instinctively we put the breeding finger in the mouth. Even today, we believe that saliva is curative!
(iii) Jesus looked up to heaven to show that it was from God that help was to come. Then he spoke the word and the man was healed. We sometimes forget the source of our being and doing. It is God!
Above all we have said so far, there's something worthy of our notice. When the healing was completed the people declared that Jesus had done all things well. That is none other than the verdict of God upon his own creation in the very beginning: "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Gen.1:31).

When Jesus came, bringing healing to men's bodies and salvation to their souls, he had begun the work of creation all over again. In the beginning of the world, everything had been good; God saw everything he created as good. It was man's sin that spoiled and spoils God's creation. And it is Jesus' mission to recreate us; in today's gospel reading, Jesus was bringing back the beauty of God to the man who had lost it. Jesus can do the same to you and me! That's, if we let him.

She came and fell at his feet, and pleaded with him!

Mark 7:24-30

Then he left Galilee and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and tried to keep it a secret that he was there, but couldn’t. For as usual the news of his arrival spread fast. Right away a woman came to him whose little girl was possessed by a demon. She had heard about Jesus and now she came and fell at his feet, and pled with him to release her child from the demon’s control. (But she was Syrophoenician—a “despised Gentile”!) Jesus told her, “First I should help my own family—the Jews. It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She replied, “That’s true, sir, but even the puppies under the table are given some scraps from the children’s plates.” “Good!” he said. “You have answered well—so well that I have healed your little girl. Go on home, for the demon has left her!” And when she arrived home, her little girl was lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

Food for thought!

Here is a woman who came to Jesus because she was concerned about her daughter. The woman was no longer in possession of her daughter, since the child was demon possessed. Both the mother and the child needed help in a desperate way. Fortunately, she had heard of Jesus. The Gospel says that “She had heard about Jesus.”
The woman had a problem, but also had a solution. Many of us, if not all of us, have problems, some serious ones, and we don't know where to find the solution; we don't know where to take them to; we don't know where to turn to; we don't know whom to talk to about our problems. Because we don't know where to turn to, we end up going to the wrong people and wrong places.
How many of us can identify with this poor, anxious mother? Perhaps we are dealing with a child that is out of control, lost to drugs or to bad life. Perhaps you are at your wits end over some situation in your life and you desperately need help. Perhaps you have exhausted every means at your disposal and do not know where to turn for help. Whatever the need in your life may be today, you should take a lesson from this woman: Get that need to Jesus! The woman came and knelt at the feet of Jesus begging him for help.
Regardless of what you face in your life today, the answer will be found in Him! He can move your mountain; meet your need; save your soul; forgive your sins; heal your loved ones; you name it, He can do it! But, you have to get it to Him! And in order to get your problem to Him, you have to come to Him; you have to talk to Him, and please don't take "no" for "no". If Jesus seem to take long to attend to you, remember what he said to the woman: "Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first." Wait for your turn. It will come; it always does.
In other words, your problem instead of leading you away from Jesus, SHOULD LEAD YOU TO JESUS. Like it did with the woman; and when it eventually leads to him, stay there; don't quit, your turn is coming. Mat 11:28

"Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy- laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest."

It is the thought-life that pollutes!

Mark 7:14-23

Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said,“and try to understand. Your souls aren’t harmed by what you eat, but by what you think and say!” Then he went into a house to get away from the crowds, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the statement he had just made. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that what you eat won’t harm your soul? For food doesn’t come in contact with your heart, but only passes through the digestive system.” (By saying this he showed that every kind of food is kosher.) And then he added, “It is the thought-life that pollutes. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery, wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute you and make you unfit for God.”

Food for thought!

Jesus is teaching us that our problem are our thoughts, and our thoughts are our problem; The world we see and live in is the one we have created with our thoughts. It is from our thoughts that originate good and eveil like lust, theft, murder, adultery, wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. Why is this so? Well, every outward act of sin is preceded by an inward act of thought. Therefore, Jesus warns us of the danger of evil thought from which the evil action comes. 

We are all the products of our own thoughts. Whatever we think, that we become. For that reason, think and say only that which you wish to become true. Never for an instant admit that you are sick, weak, or ill unless you wish to experience these conditions, for the very thinking of them helps them to get a stronger hold upon you. Our whole thought current must be set in the direction of our life purpose. Holding the poverty thought keeps us in touch with poverty producing conditions.

It is the poverty attitude, the narrowness of our thought that has limited us. If we had larger and grander conceptions of life, of our birthright; if, instead of whining, crawling, grumbling, sneaking and apologizing, we were to stand erect and claim our kingship, demand our rich inheritance, the inheritance which is an abundance of all that is good and beautiful and true, we should live far completer, fuller lives.

Great teachers down through the ages have described the importance of our mind and of being master over our thoughts. Buddha said, “The mind is everything; what you think, you become.” Ramakrishna, the Indian mystic put it this way: “By the mind one is bound, by the mind one is freed…. He who asserts with strong conviction, ‘I am not bound, I am free,’ becomes free.” William James wrote, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” And Jesus says, “It is the thought-life that pollutes. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery, wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute you and make you unfit for God.”