The Hindrance of the Earthly Mind //Emmett Bryant (Bonus Blog)

 In Richard Baxter's How to Lead a Heavenly Life upon Earth, he writes, "Thou thyself knowest how seldom and cold, how cursory and reserved, thy thoughts have been of the joys above, ever since thou didst trade so eagerly for the world." For context, he is writing about dangers that could be a hindrance to someone leading a heavenly life. Baxter speaks of how having a mind consumed with earthly things rather than the things of God draws a person away from God. I think more anything we drown in all the things we have to worry about and do in the world around us that we don't even have to try to fill our minds with earthly things, it just naturally happens. 

That is exactly the intent of Baxter's warning though, that we would be carefully on guard against letting our minds slip to a place where God and heavenly things do not have the center stage of our minds. Though our thoughts easily drift to things of the world it is up to us to fight against that. We have to ensure that we do not forget that "pleasure of a heavenly life" and become consumed with mundane things of this world. They don't even have to be bad things that consume our mind, they could even possibly be good, but if our attention is not fixated on the Trinity, the Kingdom, and our Blessed Mother then we are missing the mark entirely. 

Comments

  1. Bug OlsenOctober 4, 2021 at 10:10 PM

    I think this ties in well with Wesley's comments on the sinful nature of man, since it extremely easy for us to slip up and have our minds wander towards evil things that draw us away from God. It is impossible for us to always be thinking righteous thoughts, and we must focus on training ourselves to do this as second nature, which Baxter gives helpful advice about in his writings.

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  2. Emma LandryOctober 4, 2021 at 10:35 PM

    I definitely agree with what you are saying here about how someone's mind might focus on non-heavenly matters. I believe that the vast majority of people probably naturally slip into thinking about worldly things without any effort, becoming consumed in the often unavoidable busyness of the day. This is why it is important to be intentional about taking time to spend with God. We must make those efforts to become more Christlike, because we are not going to be perfected in the Lord by just sitting around. This passivity is instead what breeds worldly thinking.

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  3. Emma DOctober 5, 2021 at 12:05 AM

    Distraction is a huge danger; I like how Baxter highlights the more subtle nuance of it. When people hear the word "temptation", it jumps out and makes whatever follows the word subject to suspicion. "Distraction", however, is a more dangerous form of temptation, especially in getting caught up with earthly things (not even all sinful, like you said!). When our mind is full of things happening on earth, whether good or bad, it leaves no room for the good, heavenly type of contemplation that helps us to grow and be obedient to the Lord. It helps to have this highlighted, as it is a good reminder for this day and age (and possibly one of the only parts of the reading I have been able to wholeheartedly agree with!) - Emma Dalgety

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