Thoughts beget words beget deeds

Tweet

This morning in my devotions I read part of a beautiful sermon by St. Gregory of Nyssa. Here is the first bit: "The life of the Christian has three distinguishing aspects: deeds, words and thought. Thought comes first, then words, since our words express openly the interior conclusions of the mind. Finally, after thoughts and words, comes action, for our deeds carry out what the mind has conceived. So when one of these results in our acting or speaking or thinking, we must make sure that all our thoughts, words and deeds are controlled by the divine ideal, the revelation of Christ." I think this is true for other philosophies and religions and just in general. Your thoughts and ideals shape what you say, which communicates both to others and to yourself. Then what you do will follow those thoughts and words, whether good or evil. This is why it doesn't bother me when people say "sending thoughts and prayers" to folks after a disaster. It's only one step away from prayers, which are words, to deeds. People sending thoughts and prayers (or love or whatever people say) are more likely to be empathetic to those around them in real life, and possibly send aid too. I know this is a controversial topic but what do you think?