Spiritual ADHD
Cecily Knobler of Upworthy asks,
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).
According to researchers, "Accent mirroring ... is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us," likening it to a "linguistic chameleon effect."
They suggest that we all have a tendancy to do this to one degree or another, but that, "those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues," and that this, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
When it comes to staying focused on the only "legitimate" object worthy of our mimicry (God Himself!), we're all a little ADHD. Am I right or am I right? And the more we are entrenched in a worldly mindset, the more likely it will be that we will experience "a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic," leaving us subject to the spiritual "chameleon effect." It's the classic monkey-see-monkey-do dilemna.
It takes uncompromised discipline to stay the course, not allowing ourselves to yeild to the distractions of worldly influences which seek to shape us into anything "but" the image of God.
Don't allow yourself to become a spiritual chameleon. Focus, people!
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2, NIV).
"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you" (Proverbs 4:25, ESV).
Don't Recycle Thanksgiving
Gerry Thomas, a salesman for C.A. Swanson and Sons, is credited with inventing the TV dinner in 1953. The idea came about after Swanson had leftover turkeys from Thanksgiving and needed to find a way to keep them from going bad. So he packaged the leftovers into tiny aluminum trays and latched his wagon to the rise of the obsession with in home entertainment and, Voilà, the TV dinner was born.
A genius idea if you're into recycled "thanksgiving."
Recycled "thanksgiving" might be just fine when it's packaged in a disposable, alumininum tray, basking in the glow of the boob tube, but it's definitely not what's on the menu when it comes to a heart of praise.
Scripture exhorts us to "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV). To adequately rise to the demands of this commandment, we must be very actively, very currently, very continuously engaged in the practice of praise and gratitude.
The King desrves the full and fresh feast of our thanksgiving, not the remnants and leftovers of a heart consumed with earthly cares and distractions.
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" (Psalm 100:4, ESV).
Enter the Poison Garden
Have you ever heard of the Poison Garden?
The Alnwick Garden [located in Alnwick, UK] plays host to the small but deadly Poison Garden—filled exclusively with around 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants. The boundaries of the Poison Garden are kept behind black iron gates, only open on guided tours.
Visitors are strictly prohibited from smelling, touching, or tasting any plants.
Entry to The Poison Garden is included with your day ticket but please note tours are subject to availability.
Wait, what?! A garden filled with nothing but poisonous plants?!
A combination of dark, ivy-covered tunnels and flame-shaped beds creates an educational garden full of interest and intrigue, where the most dangerous plants are kept within giant cages. ... The Poison Garden is home to around 100 species of dangerous, toxic and harmful plants, each of which has the potential to severely injure you! These are some of the most dangerous to look (but not touch) out for on your tour:
Laburnum
Atropa Belladonna
Helleborus Odorus
Monkshood
Ricinus communis
Giant Hogweed
Opium Poppy
Gympie- Gympie
… and hundreds more!
Aparently, though quite deadly, these poisonous plants can be quite beautiful and alluring ...
This world is a veritable poison garden filled with all manner of temptations and worldly pursuits that can quite literally kill us!
God calls us to wander through this Poison Garden circumspectly, careful to not "touch" the poison all around us.
Long story short, enter the Poison Garden careful to obey all the warning signs!
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23, ESV).
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12, ESV).
"Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:15, ESV).
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17, ESV).