“The future—even as close as tomorrow—is a closed book. We cannot know what it holds, and the more we look for disaster, the more we invite it.” (ODAT, 19 May)
Disaster is not really the external circumstance but the
internal devastation in response to it.
By dwelling on future external circumstances classified as
disastrous, I’m pre-experiencing an attenuated form of that internal
devastation, but it is not so attenuated I do not suffer. I do suffer. Greatly.
Unlike vaccination, the attenuated form does not actually
confer any protection against the future experience.
In fact, it does the opposite. It is more like exposure to
an allergen that generates the allergic response, which becomes my learning.
When the actual event does happen, my internal devastation is already set up,
ready to roll, and I experience precisely what I’ve pre-played, set up, and
programmed as my algorithm.
Rather, my job is to do the opposite by pre-playing and
imagining God showing me how to face the situation with poise, pragmatism, and
cheer, because I have God to help me with the right thought and attitude.
This sets up a positive algorithm, so that, even if the circumstance materialises, I will respond well to it.