Look for the Good" with Rev. Amanda Sue Briggs (6.25.2025)

I told a simple story about losing a La Croix—and later discovering it was right in front of me, but in a bottle, not a can. That small moment opened a big door: our brains don’t show us everything. The reticular activating system (RAS) acts like a gatekeeper, filtering what reaches our awareness. If we train it to look for certain things—like mistakes, threats, annoyances—it will faithfully deliver them. But if we train it to notice goodness, alignment, and possibility, the world we experience starts to change.

I named the kind of “good” I mean. In the Ubuntu tradition, thoughts are “unhelpful” or “healing.” Unhelpful thoughts constrict the soul; healing thoughts align us with the truest version of ourselves. In Unity we say, “God the Good”—not as the opposite of bad, but as absolute Goodness. Sometimes the good is hidden, like light obscured, but not absent. Our work is to look for it and draw it out.

I confessed how easy it is for me to be nitpicky at home. The cabinet door left open isn’t the whole story. What I choose to focus on tells my RAS, “Show me more of this.” Mother Teresa wouldn’t march “against war,” but would march “for peace.” Where we place our attention—what we study, repeat, celebrate—gains power. In Unity we call this the law of mind action: thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.

So we practice. Philippians 4:8 invites us to dwell on what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, praiseworthy. Neuroscience suggests 10 minutes a day can reshape the RAS: five in the morning, five at night, soaking in actual goodness from your day or a specific story. Gratitude done consistently rewires what your mind brings forward. When unhelpful thoughts arise, name them and choose again—pick a healing thought that aligns with who you are in God.

We also need each other. Community that consistently calls out the good in us helps that goodness take root. We still feel what we feel—grief, anger, confusion—and let it move through. Then we decide. We can’t control others (Let Them), but we can choose our aim (Let Me). Will we look for the good—and by doing so, see more of it and create more of it?

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Train your mind to notice good Neuroscience and Scripture agree: attention shapes perception. If I repeatedly dwell on what is lovely and praiseworthy, my RAS learns to foreground it. This isn’t pretending; it’s practicing sight until grace becomes obvious. Ten focused minutes a day can change what I notice and how I live. [17:06]
• 2. Good means healing, not denial “God the Good” isn’t a moral scoreboard; it’s the bedrock reality that goodness is never absent, sometimes only obscured. Labeling thoughts as “unhelpful” or “healing” gives me agency without shame. I can tell the truth about pain while still searching for the thread of redemption within it. That is sight trained by hope. [07:20]
• 3. Aim energy toward what you want Whatever I study, repeat, and celebrate grows stronger in me and around me. Marching “for peace” rather than “against war” is not semantics; it’s strategy for the soul. My attention is a creative instrument—what I continually behold, I help bring forth. To see more good, keep pointing the lens at good. [12:33]
• 4. Community that calls out your light When people consistently reflect my gifts back to me, those seeds sprout. Mutual recognition becomes holy compost for courage, clarity, and purpose. We become environments where goodness is easier to notice—and harder to ignore. That’s how communities quietly change lives. [15:29]
• 5. Feel fully, then choose your focus Honest grief clears the fog; avoidance only moves it around. After the feeling moves through, I still have a choice: who will I be and what will I amplify? I can’t control anyone else—Let Them—but I can choose my next faithful attention—Let Me. That choice, repeated, becomes a life. [20:29]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome

Bible reading
- Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Observation questions (3–4)

1. What specific words does Paul use in Philippians 4:8 to describe what we should "think about," and how would you explain one of those words in your own life? [17:06]
2. The reticular activating system (RAS) was described as the brain’s gatekeeper. What concrete examples from daily life show how the RAS brings certain things into awareness and hides others? [02:15]
3. Ubuntu distinguishes "unhelpful" thoughts from "healing" thoughts. What is an example from your experience of each kind? [05:18]
4. What does the statement "thoughts held in mind produce after their kind" look like in everyday behavior or relationships? [13:33]

Interpretation questions (3–4) — third person, objective

1. How would training the mind to dwell on the Philippians 4:8 categories change the way the RAS filters experience and therefore affect ordinary decision-making and attention? [03:56]
2. In what ways does labeling thoughts as "unhelpful" versus "healing" shift responsibility for inner change without adding moral shame? How might that reframe conversations about growth with a friend or family member? [05:18]
3. If focused attention helps create more of what is noticed, what ethical responsibilities follow for someone who shapes the attention of a household, team, or community? Where are realistic limits to that influence? [13:33]
4. How does the practice of allowing feelings to move through and then choosing a subsequent focus (Let Them, then Let Me) alter typical reactive patterns after anger or grief? [20:29]

Application questions (4–7) — specific and personal

1. Commit to a 10‑minute daily practice (five minutes morning, five minutes night) of dwelling on something from Philippians 4:8. What exact story, image, or memory will you use this week, and when will you do it? [17:51]
2. Notice an unhelpful thought this week, name it, and replace it with a healing thought (or the simple word “oopsies” and a better thought). Which recurring unhelpful thought will you practice this with, and what healing thought will you choose instead? [18:46]
3. Identify one person in your life who most often receives nitpicky attention from you (spouse, child, roommate, coworker). This week, how will you intentionally point out a specific gift or goodness in them instead of correcting a flaw? (Be concrete: what you will say and when.) [12:33]
4. What small group or community could you join or shape so that people regularly call out one another’s strengths? What is the first practical step you will take this month to start that practice? [15:29]
5. The sermon invites feeling fully and then choosing focus. When a strong emotion arises this week, what will be your practice to let it move through (time, place, or ritual) and then what will you choose to focus on afterward? [19:34]
6. Where are you currently spending most of your attention (news, work worry, parenting fears, politics)? Name one way you can redirect even a small portion of that energy toward what you want to create instead of what you oppose. What will you do this week to begin that reorientation? [11:42]

Use this guide to help the group name patterns, try one experiment for a week, and report back next time what changed in perception, conversation, or relationships.