Good Thought Receiver
I’m a fan of The Melting Pot on Facebook, and I was amused to see this update: The Melting Pot family sends our thoughts of support to those affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. I was even more entertained by some of the responses from those proposing action would be more effective than “thoughts of support”:
rather than sending thoughts I wish I could be there and assist in the ground support…that’s what makes a difference
Actions speak louder than words. A benefit of some kind would be a great idea. That way we could actually help vs sending well wishes. Well wishes are nice, but actions would help more.
Yes, they need more than thoughts.
Does ‘sending thoughts and prayers’ mean your really not sending anything? B/c thoughts don’t help… when people need money and items like medical supplies and other every day items.
Send money not thoughts.
There was a little pushback from Team Thought-Senders:
Thoughts do help, letting people know we are thinking of them!!! [Really? How do they know? And if they did know, what benefit is that to injured, hungry, thirsty, homeless people, really? - L.]
what about people here that can’t afford to send more than thoughts and prayers? and the military people who have no choice but to be sent there? not saying i don’t feel bad for those people, but come on. don’t get preachy. [Don't get preachy, by proposing that action is superior to thought? How very postmodern. And it almost sounds as though the writer opposes the military being deployed to help. That's odd, because what they're doing is awesome. - L.]
In the words of our Great Leader: Let me be clear. Sending thoughts is a stupid concept. It’s impossible, nonsensical, and entirely useless. There is no “thought receiver” by which people might become aware of your good wishes. You can’t send thoughts to the Haitian afflicted unless you speak them (ie. during a phone call or other form of oral communication) or write them (i.e. send a telegram, letter, email, or other form of written communication) or express them in a tangible way (i.e. by showing up and working, or giving money to those who will.) In which case, you are not really “sending thoughts” but speaking, writing, volunteering or donating. And the idea that it is morally good to wish people well yet do nothing for them is handily debunked in James 2. You don’t need to be a Christian in order to recognize the good, common-sense wisdom of that chapter.
The notion that you can sit perfectly still in your Barcalounger and yet still make some positive impact is insane – unless you are sending those thoughts to God on behalf of the Haitians. And if you’re doing that, you’re probably already giving financially, if Christian aid after the tsunami is any indication. But I do wish that Christians would entirely drop the phrase “sending thoughts and prayers” from our lexicons. What “sending thoughts” really is, is Godless prayer.
I’ve done several posts on prayer lately. People are starved for it, to the point that even non-Christians have developed a secular alternative: “sending good thoughts.” A friend of mine and I joke about developing a thought receiver to catch these thoughts as they come in. We joke about it, but we are appreciative of the fact that, as in Psalm 19:1 – the heavens declare the glory of God – even people who have not accepted the Lord still can’t help mimicking parts of Christianity because at some level, they know it’s right. We are hard-wired to seek the supernatural – we inherently need to be part of “something bigger” – and we need to worship. We all do these things, it’s just that some of us aren’t directing these activities toward God.
Unbelievers may ask: “where is God in all of this?” The Anchoress answers: “The answer, of course, is that God is in the response.” Click through to learn more about how we can respond in a way that glorifies God and helps the Haitians in a tangible way. Give carefully, as a good steward, but do give. She’s giving to Food For the Poor, which has an excellent record and has long served in the Carribbean. I will probably give through my church’s parent ministry which also was already supporting missionaries there, who are now obviously focused on relief efforts.
I’d like to preface this comment by saying, I have been often annoyed by people saying “Just pray about it” as an answer to something I’m going through. I have also fell victim from “analysis paralysis” from time to time, where I think more about an intended action and thus indefinitely delay the action.
However, thoughts precede ALL actions that we choose to make. God IS the thought-receiver as he knows our thoughts ANDour prayers.
Also, we live in a world that constantly dispenses the conscious person with bad news. So much so, that it is easy to get numb. Even if this instance, I have personally struggled with how easy it is to hear about what is going on and choose not to think (and by extension do) anything about it.
Matthew 24:12
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
We are living in a time where this scripture is being fulfilled… This scripture addresses iniquity and love which are two abstract nouns representing what is NOT seen. However, both often RESULT in visible action. Why do you think there are so many scriptures containing faith AND works?
Perhaps the real issue we have is the intended and implied meaning of the phrase “sending one’s thoughts”
In short, thoughts may not mean much (especially if we can do more); however, they are NOT worthless. Just imagine if word got back to Haiti in the beginning of the crisis that other people heard but expressed no concern.
Lastly, when our thoughts lead to action, consider what would have happened if we would have never thought them.
Immanuel, good to see you again.
I mostly agree, sorta… thoughts certainly do precede action, or as I often put it, where your mind goes, your body may follow.
Just my take on it, but it seems immeasurably worse to me if word got back to Haiti that we expressed concern, but did not act. To acknowledge a great tragedy, have the ability to alleviate and yet fail to do so just seems worse to me than hearing of it and not responding because at least in the latter instance, there is room to argue (implausibly, IMO, but still…) that you didn’t comprehend the situation and thus failed to act.
It’s nice to be missed
True enough. I DO see your point. Empty words are empty words regardless. However, who’s to say (but God) that anyone’s words are empty.
In today’s society it IS hard to believe even the good that people is of pure motives. However, I don’t think we should discourage people from doing them or even thinking about doing them. It’s like stopping people from sowing seeds because they may not grow.
I have a habit of trying to put a balance to arguments.
Hi, I’m with you – with some reservations. You have a broken leg – I send you good thoughts! Get me to emergency so someone can take care of my leg! So like you, I do not value anyone sending good thoughts and nothing else, if they can afford to send anything else.
If they have barely enough to eat, then I’d say good thoughts are enough.
But if someone is sending other support – money, medical supplies, etc – and even more, if someone is directly involved in helping, can good thoughts do anything? So can gifts, help, etc given in a spirit of generosity in any way be different fromthings given without good thoughts?
If I’m in need, I may not care at all if whoever gave it, gave it to show off or because they care. But could it make any difference? There’s a lot now on moving energy. Is there anything to this?
But just to complete, sending good thoughts while keeping one’s plenty for oneself – that is not only a matter of doing nothing, but of doing something negative, withholding from those we know are in need.
Do thoughts do anything? I care about good thinking.
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