Thinking About Thinking About Thinking….

Well, as promised… it’s tomorrow. Ta dah!

I learned an intriguing word yesterday….Metacognition. Metacognition… as if cognition on its own wasn’t enough.

Metacognition is defined as “cognition about cognition”, or “knowing about knowing. According to Wiki, “it can take many forms; it includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving”.

Interestingly enough, this exemplar is not new and didn’t come out of our digital age, but was described and discussed by the ancients. Aristotle wrote about it in his works, De Anima and the Parva Naturalia. Interesting…. Sounds about right, people without a job, sitting around drinking cappuccino all day, talking about thinking about thinking… Just kidding.

Of late, my metacognitive abilities have focused on the family axiom, “Fight your own battles”. At first blush, this statement sounds like a very good thing to a child i.e. no parental interference, ultimate control and power regarding decision making authority, freedom to explore and implement all manner of stratagem at the front-line. But, as you can imagine, I soon discovered that the battle could become overwhelming, go badly as battles are oft do, in need of parental reinforcements. But what if, there will be no rescue? Remember the maxim, “Fight your own battles”. What then? What is the outcome? Or a better question would be, what if you believed there would be no rescue? No rescue… no rescue, no… not for you.

Thanks be to God for His unmerited mercy and grace. Thanks be to God for his tender hearted, lovingkindness. The word used in the bible to describe Gods love is hesed. It means faithful, everlasting, covenant love established through relationship. God will bring rescue. He is the only One who can. He brought rescue, for me and He can for you.

Are you in need of rescue? Are you in the thick of battle with the lines overrun and taking wave upon wave of assault? Fall to your knees, release yourself. Give in. Release yourself to the One who can rescue.

1 John 1:8-9, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness“.