Screen Doors

I was just on the verge of opening the screen door to the deck when I saw a big black animal sitting near my deck chair slowly get up and walk away. It occurred to me that had my patio door not been protected by the screen, that big black animal may have casually wandered into my home.

Which got me thinking about my parent’s neighbors who recently found a giant turtle in their home because they forgot the door to their garage open for a few minutes.

And that had me thinking about how carefully parents remind their children to shut the screen doors all summer long to avoid insects and bees from flying into the house. Flies somehow still manage to sneak in. I’ve spent my share of moments on a stealth mission trying to eradicate that last fly form existence after a weekend barbeque.

The best way to protect your home from unusual animals and insects is to keep your doors protected by a screen.

In the same way, your mind is the gateway to your soul. And the best way to protect your soul from dangerous animals is to screen the doors to your mind.

I watched a movie last night about people who penetrate other people’s dreams and modify their thoughts subconsciously. People chuckled on the way out of the theater.  That’s not possible, they mumbled. Yet night after night we sit and stare at a big square box while the screens of our minds remain wide open to any and every kind of assault that is thrown at us.

We’ve had a long week, we complain. We’re tired. We just want to relax and “veg”. I can’t stand that word. There is no vegetative state of the mind. The screen is either open or it’s shut. We claim to only believe in sex within the context of marriage between a man and a woman. Yet we giggle and laugh at situational comedies where sex is casual and immorality cute.  We claim to hate murder, but make it a habit of enjoying watching people kill other people for fun. We say we hate pornography, but allow our eyes to slowly numb the contents of our brains while image after shocking image is flashed before our eyes in what is claimed to be a family friendly show.

Then we wonder why we find our lives so boring.

Guard your hearts, the Bible teaches in Proverbs 4:13, for from it flows the springs of life.

I get that the answer isn’t to shut the door to your mind tightly and throw the keys away. I get that. We live and function in a culture that demands openness.

But what I am suggesting is that you keep the screens to your mind and heart in place and that you be watchful.

Your mind is the gateway to your soul. Guard it. Protect it. Be careful what comes in it.

There is a big black animal outside waiting to come in. Don’t make it easy for it to do so.

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