On filters…

On filters…

I am not a mechanic by any means but one thing I do understand a little about is filters.  I’ve seen lots of them – in cars, vacuum cleaners, heating and air conditioning units, to name just a few.  My understanding of how they work is this:  They trap the impurities that would damage or pollute whatever they’re protecting.  They play an important function.  They keep mechanical parts running longer.  As a matter of fact, they are not only used for mechanical parts but can also be used on computers in the way of virus protection or protecting us from unwanted spam, pornography or things like that.  For mechanical things or computers filters are necessary and good.  We want and need them.

Children are born without filters.  Their minds are completely open to any possibility.  That is why they easily accept things like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  Nothing seems unimaginable to them.  As we grow up though, we develop filters in our minds.  These are core beliefs we use to protect us.

Our filters develop through various means.  Some are natural consequences.  We touch a hot oven and burn our hand.  We develop a filter – a belief – that teaches us not to do that again.  From then on, we will never even consider the possibility of touching an oven that is hot.  This filter is helpful and protects us.  It allows us to make decisions more quickly as we already understand the natural consequence of our action.

Another way filters are developed is that they are learned from others.  Parents play a very big role in developing filters in our minds.  My parents taught me from my infancy to believe in God.  They taught me to trust in Him, to depend on Him and to always seek for Him.  I knew no other way.  Every action in my life ran through that filter.  Would God approve?  Would this please or displease Him?

Sometimes parents try to teach us something but then their actions contradict their teaching.  That creates more filters.  We learn we cannot always trust our parents.  We begin to question what they say and, depending on how much contradiction we see, we sometimes immediately discard EVERYTHING they say, developing a filter that says:  Nothing they say is true.

Some filters are developed by books, music, or movies we watch that profoundly affect our emotions.  Some filters come from protecting ourselves in relationships that are unhealthy.

Filters can be helpful but also may be detrimental.  Filtered water loses nutrients that are good for us.  Knowing not to touch a hot stove is good.  Believing that you are not a good person because of how people or a particular person has treated you is detrimental.

The crazy thing about filters is that they can be so subtle and a part of us that we don’t even know we have them.  We accept them as truth, as a reality, whether they are or not.  Also, although a mechanical machine or computer NEEDS filters to protect it, the human mind, which I daresay can concoct more filters than we can imagine, has the ability to reason and question things and this is greatly hampered by filters.  It’s like having lots of little shortcuts to help us make decisions – some which keep us from looking at other very reasonable and viable options.

I believe that when we are told to “become as  little child” this is exactly what is being said.  Turn off those filters.

I had developed so many filters in my life that I had lost much of my ability to reason properly.  I had filters created by religion, politics, bad relationships, hurts, and all kinds of stuff.  I have spent the past two years doing all I can to recognize and remove these filters and I have been amazed at how much more sense things make when I can look at things with a clearer mind.  I have more clarity, more confidence, more control of my life.  I have also found more peace and more stability in my emotions.

I am amazed as I watch others who have beliefs that I once held filter information without recognizing they are even doing it.  I see myself in them and feel more determined all the time to continue to remove them.

Some filters have been EXTREMELY difficult to remove.  They have taken conscious effort to recognize and redirect my thinking patterns and they have taken a lot of time but I DO achieve success as I persist.

If I want to run mechanically without thinking through things thoroughly and accurately I will keep those filters, but I want to use my brain.  I want to have the freedom and ability to look “outside the box” or filter and trust in my ability to discern truth because I am NOT a machine.  I want to become as I once was…as a little child.