I read with interest the New York Times best selling book, How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman. Dr. Groopman suggests “most errors (by physicians) are mistakes of thinking. And part of what causes these cognitive errors is our inner feelings, feelings we do not readily admit to and often don’t realize.”
This accurately describes my own experience in medicine. When feelings dominated my honest reasoning, I was vulnerable to wrong thinking – possibly taking me down the path toward the wrong diagnosis. Sometimes my feelings toward patients were:
- Negative – This patient is a complaining, melodramatic kook, not someone who is really sick.
Or
- Positive – This patient is such a young robust athlete that he surely can't have the heart disease that I should suspect.
As a physician, truth expressing itself in a correct diagnosis is paramount. I have come to realize that honest inquiry tempered with recognition of the impact of feelings provides the most fertile ground to explore truth.
Reasoning influenced by feelings can lead to wrong thinking not only in medicine but also in my spiritual life. Spiritually, truth expresses itself in the person of Jesus Christ. My only hope for correct thinking is to,
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
(Philippians 2:5 NKJV)
We are offered through the power of the Holy Spirit the mind of Christ – a mind of truth forged by divine humility.
I desperately want to possess spiritual right thinking. Join me this week in a passionate quest for the Truth.
Sharing the journey with you,
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