When my brother Larry had his motorcycle accident, there was an open door ( a door point) to the spirits of fear, anger, and unforgiveness. It more than likely affected his thoughts for most of his life: thoughts about the man who hit him, the motorcycle and especially the intersection of Madison and Edwards Road, where the accident occurred.
Accidents like this can and often do have long-lasting effects on the person and his/her health: the more traumatic the event, the more fear/stress chemicals are released from the adrenal glands which are chiefly responsible for the secretion of cortisol and epinephrine.
God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us a marvelous interaction between the mind and the body. At RLI we refer to it as the mind/body connection. In essence, every thought that enters our mind affects the chemicals that are secreted into our body through our endocrine system. The hypothalamus is the walnut-sized gland that is the “master switchboard” because it’s the part of the brain that controls the chemicals released by the endocrine system into the bloodstream.
Every thought we have has a message that is communicated to the hypothalamus. A good thought – like a joke – produces chemicals that are good for the body. A bad thought – like fear, anger, or bitterness – produces chemicals that are bad for the body.
Think of it this way: every thought is a prescription that tells the pharmacist (the hypothalamus) what chemicals to secrete. Our minds act just like a pharmacist filling a prescription. The hypothalamus is doesn’t judge if the input thought is “good” or “bad”. It just serves up the chemicals the prescription tells it to. Therefore, the chemicals secreted by the endocrine system either produce a good belly laugh and health, or stress and possibly sickness.
What this is telling us is that we must continually monitor and control the thoughts that enter our minds. If Larry constantly harbors hatred and unforgiveness for the driver that hit him, then Larry will possibly not only have health problems from the accident itself, but also will, more than likely suffer other ailments that could have been eliminated through forgiveness and entertaining only good, hopeful, and merciful thoughts.
Our five senses are constantly bombarded with inputs – good, bad, and neutral. We can and should judge the thoughts BEFORE we allow them to affect us negatively. We can turn off the evening news, quit listening to thoughts that breed anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness and fill our minds with good, encouraging thoughts. It bears repeating that you will do your mind and body a great favor if you follow this advice from Paul in Philippians:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
For an interesting YouTube describing the endocrine system, click on the link below.
By Mike Kelly