Why is Thinking Important?

Would you not consider this to be one of the quintessential questions of human existence? I confess that I have been using this brain that the Lord gave me for decades now, and I have never really considered this question: why is thinking important?

I must first illuminate why it is, indeed, worth our time to consider such an abstract question. I have fallen in love with abstract philosophical musing like this in the last years, but I know that many do not find joy in such considerations. Rather, many find such questions to be the mental equivalent of brambles. That is, they are painful to get into, painful to get out of, and leave one full of uncomfortable prickles that seem to turn back up just when you thought you had got the last one out. So why venture into the brier patch in the first place? Just this, unless we have formed definite opinions based upon sound reason about our minds themselves, our minds will be at the mercy of whatever is the most pressing demand. If we do not know with certainty why our thoughts are both a valuable commodity and a potent tool, we will go about our days waving them around like a half-cocked pistol waiting for an inopportune bump to bast off in an unpredictable direction. In this state, we prepare ourselves to be the tools of those who have formed such certainty about the use of their minds. In this state, our will resides helplessly upon the ill-constructed raft for our thoughts upon the sea of our emotion. In this state, we are useful to none but the basest men who are willing to capitalize on our weakness for their personal gain. 

So why is thinking important? In the well-ordered mind, the will captains a cohesive vessel of thought which rides the seas of emotion with purpose and power. The wind and tide of feeling become tools to better engage the world around us rather than being the devastating force that casts us upon unfamiliar shores of loneliness and desperation. I deeply wish I could say that my thoughts were ship-shape and able to ride each of the storms of feeling with purpose and confidence, but that is not yet the case. Thus, thinking and thinking with purpose becomes so very important. Since most of our wills are captaining leaky vessels, choosing which  thoughts are allowed to make up our ship becomes one of our defining tasks as human beings. From one's mind, one's actions will flow. Thus, choosing the material of one's thoughts becomes not only our defining task, but perhaps the defining choice of all human experience. In this, one's thoughts become not only the most valuable commodity available but also the most potent tool naturally available to us. 

This leaves us with two rather unpopular implications. The first pertains to addiction (particularly that of alcohol), and the second pertains to ingratitude. Many of you will have already guessed how this relates to addiction. Addiction gives one a certain pre-disposition to fill one's vessel with thoughts that are all centered on one thing. This pattern of thinking is not purposeful or powerful and remaining in it is lazy thinking. If all our conscious thought hovers around one thing our mind lacks strength. Such a pattern is driven more by instinct and bears more resemblance to the thinking of a hungry animal than that of a reasoning man. It is like trying to build a ship with only a shell and no bracing. There is no bracing, no mast, no sails, and one's mind is once again at the mercy of the wind and tide of emotion. Thus, one with such a pre-disposition must be particularly vigilant to place their will in the captaincy and choose to capture and subdue the thoughts which focus on their addiction. This will take a great effort of conscious will at first. Indeed, for some it will be a moment-by-moment battle for control of his or her mind. But, such mental vigilance builds strength. This process is like learning to lift weights. At first, the weight is almost unbearable. But, after a few weeks, it becomes just a bit more manageable. And finally, after months or years of such training, the lightest weights barely flex the muscles. So it is with vigilance of thought and addiction. 

One who is grateful is one who thinks with care. Our desires will almost always exceed what is available to us. Thus, the lazy thinker will never appreciate what he has; he will want more. It takes a concerted application of the will to anchor one's thoughts and appreciate what one has in the moment. One who does not do so will be ungrateful and therefore ungracious. 

These two vices are the two flaws of lazy thinking that most readily presented themselves to me as I wrote. The truth is that just as our bodies fall into decay without work and focus, so too do our minds decay if we allow our will to lose it's place at the helm of our minds. Thus, all vice finds its home in the lazy mind. Conversely, virtue flourishes in the well-order, disciplined mind. Thus, thinking becomes not only the defining characteristic of human experience but also the avenue by which virtue may, by God's grace, be cultivated in our lives.