Reflections. Philippians 4.

Grandfather duty came first today, so after a morning of job hunting and work, the blog had to wait for our grandson's swim and dinner and chores. But in the pool, you can bet I was thinking about today's reading in Philippians, and reflecting on what I read, even as the sunlight reflected off the surface of the pool. Mainly because I wanted to write about verses 4:8,9, where Paul asks the Philippians to think about, dwell on, reason through, ponder, or reflect upon good, noble, true things. So there I was in the pool, watching the reflections, reflecting on Paul's admonition to reflect upon good stuff, trapped in a referential spiral of reflection.

In the verses immediately preceding 8 and 9, Paul has given some great advice about anxiety, rooted in an understanding of the God he served. (The same one we do.) In the NLT, it says, "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything." This is so fundamental to our living in joy and peace. It reflects an essential understanding of creation that should be ours. You've probably clung to that advice at some time or another in your life -- or maybe that's yet to come.

In some sense, I see what Paul writes next as one way to fill up those moments when we might be anxious. Or angry. Or depressed. Or afraid. Or frustrated. Or uncertain. Or tempted. Here it is:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9 NET)

What we place our thoughts upon has real impact in our lives. (Whoa, how cliched was that?) For a moment, take some of the specific items Paul said to think about, and reverse them. The reverse of what he said was don't dwell on the unlovely, the impure, the unjust. Now stop again. Did any part of your week include dwelling on the unjust? Did someone get away with something they shouldn't have? Someone cut you off in traffic? Someone cheat on the ball field? Were you unfairly treated in a conversation? How long did you dwell on it? This is so easy to do. We live in a wonderful and yet rotten world. A fallen world. Unjust stuff happens. Unlovely stuff is everywhere.

And because of that, Paul says, dwell on the really wholesome parts of life. Reflect on commendable actions, look for excellence and praiseworthy ideas and occurrences. And as I watched my grandson jump into the water, float, play, laugh, swallow water and cough it up, and gradually get more comfortable in the pool, it was easy to find the lovely, and the excellent in those moments. The chill of the water on my skin, the warmth of the sun, the words of Paul to encourage me to reflect about that very moment. That was an easy moment to follow Paul's advice, even though I might sometimes forget about to think about it without his reminder to do so.

But what about the hard moments? Sitting in the midst of scummy circumstances, and thinking crummy thoughts? I know, for example, that some of you reading this blog are dealing with health issues, or finance issues, or family relationship issues -- hard stuff. One of my wife's close Bible study partner's husband has just died. Can Paul's advice help?

And the answer is, not surprisingly enough, absolutely yes. The trick is to remember to do it. And so Paul told the Philippians, try and remember what he had said, how he had acted, what they had learned when he was with them to help them do that. Now, what can you do to remember to think on the commendable things? One answer is to remember Jesus, Who was all of Paul's list -- worthy of respect, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy. This is one of those cases where, like the youth in our Sunday School learn quickly, if you're not sure of the answer, then answer with "Jesus".

I hope you had a terrific day today, with the 4th chapter of Philippians shepherding your thoughts.

(hook's note: I hesitated to talk about being in a pool today. I know there are those of you who are in worse situations than we are. Let me just say that it's an incredible blessing that the complex where we live has a pool that we can use, and we're thankful to have it as a result of tightening financial circumstances.)