“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind.’” (Matt 23:37) I can understand the whole heart and soul, but the loving God with one’s mind? How do you start doing that?

Our minds are one of God’s amazing creations. We use them to make decisions, to recall information, experiences and feelings and to ponder our experiences to get more meaning out of them. So how can you love God amongst the various functions of the brain? Do we include God in our decision-making process, asking Him for direction rather than approval? Perhaps it’s when we review our memories and thank Him for the good times and helping us through the difficult moments. Maybe it’s when we actively seek Him in our thoughts and keep our minds open to His will.

Artificial intelligence was a topic at a conference I recently attended and I learned that there are so many amazing ways it’s being used. While some may fear robots taking over the world, in a way we are welcoming them into our homes now. With products like the Roomba vacuum and Amazon’s Alexa, technology that learns about us is not futuristic science fiction, but reality in the here-and-now. I wonder if the beliefs all the religions of the world and their scriptures were input to one of these machines, would they pick one religion as superior? I would like to think that it would be Catholicism. I wonder if after analyzing all the data points, would it wish to be human, so that it could believe and worship God? After all, Jesus became one of us to save us; no human ever became a microchip to fix a bug in a computer. Or would it reject it all, since God becoming man and dying on a cross to save us is very illogical? Perhaps it wouldn’t be able to understand a Triune God. Then again, we all struggle with these items of faith from time to time even if we do believe in them.

Knowing God is not a matter of intelligence. It’s about having a relationship with Him. It’s about seeing the blessings that He brings to our lives and thanking Him for them. It’s about seeking to do His will. It’s about keeping Him in mind at all times. In everything we say, think or do, we do it for Him. It’s how we love Him in our hearts, souls and minds.