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Reflections: Wednesday begins time of reflection

By RICHARD PETERSEN

Feb. 22 is a double holiday. It is George Washington's birthday and Ash Wednesday, a secular holiday and a religious holy day. For the religious, the day signifies the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of spiritual reflection. For the secularists, the day could signify a period of self-evaluation.

Many years ago when I was in college, I took several courses in psychology. These courses were very popular among the students. I guess we thought we would have a better understanding of ourselves if we knew something about our psychological make-up.

I was aware then that there seemed to be some connection between psychology and religion. After all, Sigmund Freud's father was a rabbi. He certainly would have been aware of so many teachings from the Old Testament. My understanding of the relationship between psychology and religion came from my exposure to what Jesus said when asked which of the commandments was the most important.

His reply listed two. First: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Second: Love your neighbor as yourself. (See Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.)

Notice that the first refers to several parts of our human make-up, and that the second refers to our interpersonal or social relationships. These give us an insight into what the Bible says about psychology.

In both the Old and the New Testament, the heart is the center of your personality. It is your decision-making center. It is like a courtroom where you listen to both sides of a question and make your decision: "Yes, I will do something" or "No, I won't do it."

With your mind, you think carefully about the question before you. You send your thoughts into your heart.

Your soul contains your feelings and emotions. You will also send these to your heart.

Your strength refers to your physical body. Sometimes it will send a message to your decision-making, usually in the form of physical pain.

Many of the questions we face in life involve our relationships to others. Generally, we avoid those things which will hurt or insult them, and we try to do those things that will be helpful. In our heart, our decision-making center, we make a decision as to which course of action we will follow.

Sometimes we receive conflicting messages in our hearts. The mind may tells us that something is wrong, but our feelings may say: "I just want to do this, no matter what." If we decide to follow our feelings, we say that we acted impulsively or emotionally. You can see that this decision will lead to trouble.

At other times we have the opposite experience. Your mind may be convinced that what you are being offered is a good thing, but in our heart we receive a message from our feelings telling us that something just doesn't seem quite right about it. Here our feelings are sending us a message that ought not be dismissed. It would be good to remember the old adage: When in doubt, don't.

So, Lent is a good time for religious people to do some soul-searching. The secularists could use the 40 days for a time of self-evaluation. All of us could do some serious thinking about the decisions we have made and will continue to make in the future.

Remember the story you learned in the early grades of school about what George Washington said: "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did cut down the cherry tree."

The Rev. Richard H. Petersen, Ph.D., is pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, retired.