I have been on the hunt to better understand discernment, love, and how God ties us together in Christian Community. I have noticed that many people have a HIGH sense of who likes them, and who doesn't. This is most noticed when dealing with rejection.
Sometimes someone will say, "Hey I don't feel accepted by these people." Those same people will deny it and sometimes even blame the issue on rejection-itself. However, I had a growing belief that those who sense rejection might simply have a hyper sense of discernment that is distorted through pain or a lack of stable love. (They discern correctly, but respond with pain instead of victory). Therefore, with love, the distortion will be removed and we can see one another more clearly.
Recently, I found an "experiment" that reveals whether our silent, positive or negative thoughts can impact another person's strength (literally). The "experiment" is quite basic and is not of a scientific or clinical nature.
Nevertheless, for those who are willing, let us read the information and each pray "God, please search me or know me. Please find anything wayward way [or negative thoughts] within me and lead me in the way of everlasting." Ps 139.
"God, please show us if we love one another, even in our hidden thoughts".
I want us each to be strong.
In intentionally-loving thoughts,
Elizabeth
-----------------------
Written By Martha Beck
"Humour me," I tell Virginia. "Let's try something. Hold out your arm, parallel to the floor. I'm going to push down on your hand. You resist me. Keep your arm stuck out straight". Virginia plays along, and I give several experimental pushes. Sometimes as I push [down on her arm], I think, 'You're a terrible person!'. Sometimes I think, 'You're fabulous!'. I try to keep the pressure consistent and my face expressionless. Just as I expect, Virginia's arm feels much stronger when I'm thinking positive thoughts about her. When my thoughts are negative, she's as weak as a kitten.
Virginia doesn't like this. She frowns and demands many repeats, just as I did when I learned this homespun experiment from two social-scientist friends. I was stunned at how noodlelike my arm became when my friends though negative things about me. Since then I've repeated this process with dozens of clients. When speaking to groups, I often choose two volunteers (one pusher, one pushee), who test their strength as everyone else in the room thinks critical or supportive thoughts about the person being pushed. I give the crowd random hand signals--thumbs up for nice vibes, thumbs down for mean ones--that can't be seen by the volunteers. The group's thoughts should not affect the subject's strength. But they almost always do.
Grab some friends and try this experiment yourself. If your group is anything like the ones I've worked with, you or your compadres will find your arm strength varying in response to one another's thoughts. Perhaps one of you will insist that this shift happens because you were communicating subtle cues through facial expression, body language, or some other physical action. Could be true, but whatever the mechanism--telephone telepathy or imperceptible physical signs--the fact is that many people are sitting ducks for social contagion.
