Article October 1, 2012 Issue

You are what you think

Susan MacFarlane

Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr., is a legendary hero in the Baltimore, Maryland, community. Not only was he an outstanding shortstop, third baseman, and power hitter for the Orioles, but he will probably be remembered just as long for his achievement in playing in 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games. With injuries among pro baseball players reported almost as frequently as home runs, this amazing feat of endurance earned Cal the nickname of Iron Man.

But I appreciate Cal not just for the evenings I enjoyed watching him play at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but for the role he played as poster boy for a Maryland beverage company encouraging people with the message, “You are what you drink.” That catchy slogan has actually been a wake-up call for me to focus less on what I eat and drink, and more on what I think. And I’ve become increasingly aware of the fact that the only thoughts worth imbibing (and responding to) are those that come to us from the one divine Mind, God, who, as Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 70).

Christ Jesus put it this way: “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on” (Luke 12:22). He made it clear that our Father knows our needs and meets them abundantly (see verse 30). And Mrs. Eddy urged her readers to guard their thinking at all times: “Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously” (p. 392).