We Become What We Behold
The English poet William Blake once said,
“We become what we behold.”
This idea has now been confirmed by neuroscientists* (see geeky quotes at the end).
But really this is simply a confirmation of what we know from Scripture—
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever- increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 | NIV
This is either wonderful news…
...or it's terrifying.
Because…what am I beholding?
So here’s a bold experiment.
I want us to both look at our Explore Pages.
And I’ll go first.
For better or worse, this page shows us what we’re beholding.
If you were not aware, the Explore Page is a highly curated feed of images and videos selected to match the kind of content you spend the most of your time looking at.
You don’t explore it…it has explored you.
It's more of a mirror than a magnifying glass.
I'll be straight with you.
This whole Tone Shepherd thing has caused a shift in focus in my eyes...and therefore my heart.
The world of gear is vast and unending. The fear of missing the news on the latest drop. The desire to be seen as successful and important.
All of this can be a trap that keeps me adequately distracted from the stuff that matters much much more.
And listen, I believe in what I'm doing on social media. I'm not feeling called to stop.
But for my heart, and for the sake of spaciousness of mind, I've done a few things:
1. Delete Selected Apps from Phone—Mail, Facebook, Reverb, Netflix
2. Limit Instagram (on phone) to 15 min a day
3. Books in Place of Shows in Bed
For me, I feel the call to compartmentalize work and home as much as possible. I've found that every time I touch my phone during the day my thumb instinctively hits the apps mentioned above. No matter what time of day or what situation I'm in.
That just needs to stop.
Because I’m becoming what I contemplate.
I'll still have accesses to these apps on my computer at work but, by removing them from my phone, the distraction that it's caused at home and my in-between moments during my day are vastly limited.
I’m still very much here, still very much invested in this community, but just shifting how and when I let my eyes scan the screen.
Perhaps this has been an encouragement to you as well. If so, I'm praying for our focus and what we're becoming.
Much love to you all.
🫶 🐑
*Dr. Curt Thompson
“Neurons that repeatedly activate in a particular pattern are statistically more likely to fire in that same pattern the more they are activated (meaning, you think one thought, you’re more likely now to think that thought again). Once the original neurons in a network fire, there is a very high probability that the related neurons will also activate and move along the same bioelectrical pathway to the end of that network. The more frequently those patterns have been fired, the more easily they will fire in that same pattern in the future.”
*Dr. Andrew Newberg, How God Changes Your Brain
“If you contemplate God long enough, something surprising happens in the brain. Neural functioning begins to change…(we have) a nervous system that actively participates in its own neural construction, something we do not see in other animal brains.”
Very simply, as we contemplate the love of God coming toward us in Christ it literally rewires our brain and it forms us into more compassionate and loving people.
The opposite is also true—and if your view of God is an angry overbearing tyrant in the sky, that also changes your brain, and Newberg argues has a similar affect to PTSD and rewires your brain to make you more fearful and aggressive.
You Become What You Behold: Five Scriptures to Remember - lisa z dean