Recently I began reading an account of a woman and her days of crisis. During one of this nights of sobbing, she made a decision. She would no longer remain in her negative thinking state of mind. She made a most unusual decision for herself. She started praying to God. For her a totally new experience, this praying to God. How different this encounter with the Unknown. She shared her story with her friends. Naturally one asked, "What is the God like?" Her answer you should always remember: "I believe in a magnificent God."We can easily drift into negative thinking for so many reasons ... usually dissatisfaction with something about ourselves, our lives, our work, our relationships. Many program themselves into negative thinking so often that it becomes a part of their lives. "A magnificent God" hardly becomes or continues to be a part of their lives. Each day, as you begin the morning, you have two choices: either you remind yourself of your God-given status of greatness, his anointed one, his gifted one, or you can recall and focus on the past and the times and moments that have taken the positive out of your life. Starting each day reminding yourself that your God is a magnificent God, you will soon feel the peace described by Isaiah in today's first reading. If you keep your mind focused on the good that God has given you or entrusted to you, prayer and a positive life will be yours. If you turn from set notions of thinking how unworthy you might be before God, realizing you are a forgiven person, your prayer will be so much stronger and so much more enjoyable and rewarding.
