dailydatewithgod

Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with the information we are given. We may not know what we think or feel about something or someone.  Our mind automates what category it falls into in an effort to minimize our having to think about it.  The brackets in our brain were established in the first seven years of our life when we were watching and taking in all the information and ideas we could from the words and behaviors of those we saw as authority figures.  We looked to our parents, teachers, media, culture, loud and popular voices and actions to tell us what bracket to know where to put pieces of information.  When something new to us arrives within our realm, we assess it based on the established brackets and know what to do with it.  If it does not seem fit within a particular bracket, we will either automatically disregard it or put energy into creating a new bracket or a way to make it fit in an existing one.  We call them biases and predispositions but neurochemically they are well-worn pathways and strong circuitry in our brains.  God invites us to open up the circuitry to the bracket of our heart so we can look at information and experiences through another well worn albeit less used path.  It is the bracket that encapsulates the variety and possibilities which cannot be held within our minds. The pause needed to make time for the path to and from the bracket of our hearts is well worth the wait but it is not as immediate as the one provided from the first thought.  It takes a level of discipline and intention to allow for the pause to travel to and from the bracket of our hearts.  The good news is the more practiced we get the quicker the travel time.