Project the Goodness of God

“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.” Some time ago, a commercial invited us to consider and ponder the question, “What’s in your wallet?” The response differed and depended on your working status or the means available to you at that moment. Your response could be a couple of dollars, some credit/debit cards or just a lot of stuff or not much this week until payday. Whatever the answer, it caused us to stop and think. It prompted us to consider what was truly inside our wallet. What if the question were to redirect you and ask you to go deeper than your wallet and to ponder, “What’s on your mind? or “What’s in your heart?” How might you pause and stop to reflect, or respond similarly or differently? Often what is in our heart or what is on our mind can project itself outward onto another person. It could also project onto a given situation and even onto our relationship with God. We tend to respond from knowledge gained from others or from personal experiences or even from personal judgements and preferences. We tend to project outward into a scene or inward to another’s mind and heart what’s on our own heart and mind. Projection can be a defense mechanism because of a person either being too inquisitive about our private life or getting a little too close to past hurts and pains. We redirect and move the inquisitor to consider a different question or get them to look or move in another direction. We use projection to deflect the focus off us and move the attention onto another, simply by asking a different question to consider, ponder or reflect. Projecting is a way to distract another person from looking to closely to what we have in our heart or from seeing to clearly what is truly on our mind. Projecting can be good if we are projecting joy, love, mercy, kindness. These are helpful and beneficial to all. What is not helpful or beneficial in anyway is impatience, anger, hurtful words, or negative attitudes. These reveal what is truly in our heart or truly on our mind. At times, we project negative thoughts and emotions onto God who is innocent and wants to assist. God is not the cause of our anger or caused our hurt or pain but the One that can help heal us and move us past it. Consider what’s in your heart or on your mind but project only the goodness of God.