Stinkin' Thinkin'

I have a friend who often refers to her husband as quotable. I think it’s funny. Maybe you would too if you knew them. He says some things that are basically hilarious, and occasionally wise.

The thing about being quotable is sometimes you don’t even know when people are repeating things you have said.

I quote people who have influenced me over the years. I do this more often than what might be considered normal. That’s alright with me though- I’ve never been a huge fan of normal.

I have not seen Craig Taylor since maybe 1994, yet I speak his words on a semi-regular basis. I might not always give him credit, saying “I knew a guy who used to say” or “one of my mentors said,” but they are still words I heard from him.

Craig poured his life into mine during my junior and senior years of high school. He worked at the church I was going to. He was one of the best people I’ve ever known. I have zillions of memories that involve him, but life has a way of moving people away from those that impact them the most.

Craig was the first person I ever heard say “stinkin’ thinkin’.” He never said stinking thinking. Pronouncing the ‘g’s would not have been very Craig-ish. I can picture the face he made when he’d say it too. If you knew him, you’d know exactly the face I’m referring to. It was a closed mouth half smirk, slight head bob expression that was vintage Craig.

Stinkin’ Thinkin’ was all about having negative thoughts. I would be heading to my high school hockey game and say “we are going to get crushed tonight!” Craig would look at me and say “there goes that stinkin’ thinkin’!”

Honestly I don’t need a lot of help to let my thoughts go negative. If my right side hurts I’m moments away from googling “what kind of cancer is on the right side?” If one of my teenagers doesn’t answer their phone I start to think they are in the back of a white van and fear they will be asked to put the lotion in the basket. The point being, I have to be intentional to not let my thoughts go dark.

I think 2020 has just broken some of us. It seems like years ago Kobe Bryant died but that was merely 225 days ago. So much has happened in the past seven months. Obviously COVID-19 is the biggest event of the year, but it’s hardly the only thing that’s happened. You know the rest. I don’t need to point out the chaos that we are seeing, and how amplified the division appears to be.

I’ve made the decision to follow Jesus and read the Bible. This helps my thinking a ton. I believe reading things that are true can make a huge difference, so I try to do this every day.

I heard a pastor named Craig (apparently a common name for a pastor) Groeschel say, Your life is always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. I like that. I think there’s a lot of truth to this. I want my life to go in a good direction and I would imagine you do too.

So maybe, and please give me grace as I say this, but maybe we need to stop the stinkin’ thinkin’.

I don’t know if your schools will shut down. But neither do you.

I don’t know if a vaccine is coming. Probably. Eventually. Maybe.

I don’t know how long the pandemic will last. I’ve heard anywhere from a week to a decade.

I don’t know if this is really the most important election in history. But don’t we say that every time?

I don’t know if these divisions will heal soon. I really hope they will.

We have become really good at finding the negative things. When we focus on them it’s like staring into the sun. Eventually it just blinds us to everything else.

There are some things I do know. Here are a few of them.

I do know this world is broken and that’s not a new thing. It’s why I’ve chosen to embrace Jesus, the one who puts broken things back together. He’s been doing that to me since 1992.

I do know there is a season for everything. Seasons change in time. We just have to be patient.

I do know that I’ve seen some really good things happen in 2020. I bet you have too.

Circumstances can make it really hard to stay positive. Sometimes it’s okay to be sad. We might need to grieve or scream or punch something (preferably not someone though). I just think we don’t need to stay in that place.

Would you help me stop my own stinkin’ thinkin’?

I want to believe the best in people.

I want to embrace the best parts of 2020.

I want to believe in better days to come.

I’m not going to ignore the bad things. You shouldn’t either.

I just don’t want to stare into the sun any longer than necessary. And I am confident if you think about it, you’ll feel the same way.