A friend of mine told me about an interesting thought experiment at dinner recently. She said to imagine I was holding a fresh lemon in my hand. She encouraged me to think about the texture and the weight of the fruit. Then she instructed me to imagine the process of cutting the lemon into fourths, smelling its sharp sourness and feeling the juice splash up onto my fingers. Next, I was told to pick up an imaginary piece of the lemon and taste it. When the experiment is done correctly, the subject often begins to salivate and finds that she can actually taste the lemon juice, even though it’s not there.   From a psychological aspect, this experiment demonstrates the power of our minds, specifically how internal imagery can affect our physical reality. This idea of internal and external imagery is a popular notion, especially amongst athletes who struggle with perfecting a particular skill in their sports. Famed golfer Jack Nicklaus has used this method to improve his game. He said,  “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”   His process is particularly remarkable considering that Nicklaus contracted polio when he was 13. Doctors initially thought he had the flu, but his rapid weight loss and achy joints led them to the conclusion that he, along with his younger sister, had the disease which parents across the world at that time feared most. His sister lost the ability to walk for about a year, but he mostly recovered after a few weeks, though he has said, “ My whole career, my joints have gotten awfully sore at times.” Eighteen professional major championships and 73 PGA Tour victories later, his methods and dedication to hard work have paid off. You could argue that his early setbacks coupled with his strong ability to imagine his success has led to his actual triumphs.   Believe it or not, the Apostle Paul had similar advice when he wrote to the Christians in Philippi. He said, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Thousands of years before Jack Nicklaus picked up a golf club, Paul was underlining the power of our thoughts to affect our actions.   Of course, Paul wasn’t advising them on their backswing. He was telling them how to achieve what he had instructed a few verses earlier in Philippians 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”   Paul was telling them to do something much more difficult than taste an imaginary lemon. He was saying that despite our difficulties, we should rejoice. He was telling them to be gentle and not riddled with anxiousness. (A tall order for anyone but especially for a marginalized, persecuted community like this church in the Roman colony of Philippi.) That’s why we have to “think about such things,” not to ignore the injustices of the world, but to spend considerable brain energy on the people we can only be with God’s help through His Spirit. Then, as we read at the end of verse 9, we can “put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”