If you wrote down a list of everything you own, what items would appear on that list?

You might itemize things like a Timex watch, a ten-speed bicycle, two pairs of shoes, or even a house if you’re fortunate. But I’m not talking about the obvious things. I’m talking about the thoughts! What kind of thoughts do you claim as your own?

Take mental inventory and see what you discover.

Do you find a consciousness filled with the treasures of love, joy and peace? Do you find the good ideas God gives, the attitudes indicative of a child of God, the hope and outlook spiritual living generates?

As the beloved of divine Love, you have good things from God to claim ownership of, to live out and express. It’s wise and healthy to not claim anything less.

I read a short news article about a man who owned a house and a lot in a nice neighborhood. He kept his yard very clean and orderly. But every few days, he’d come home from work and find a plastic sack of dog-poop dropped under his favorite tree in the front yard. Not just once, but several times over the course of a few weeks this happened.

He suspected a neighbor was doing it, but had no proof. So he bought a security camera, discreetly placed it under his roof line and left it playing while he was away. Sure enough, caught red-handed on camera, his neighbor would walk down the side-walk, look in all directions first, and when he thought no one was looking, would throw a bag of dog-poop over the fence under this man’s tree. The film was shown to the neighbor and he quit.

Well, how often has mortal mind thrown a sack of dog-poop over the fence of our thought and landed it under our favorite tree? We never asked for it. We never did anything to deserve it. We were minding our business all along, but there it is—stinky and unwanted, a new possession to deal with.

If you find any type of festering anger, unhappiness, hatred, resentment, doubt or fear taking up residence in your thinking, don’t claim ownership! It’s like a sack of dog-poop that mortal mind threw over the fence into your mental yard. And it doesn’t belong there!

You don’t need to buy a security camera to figure out the culprit. Mortal mind is the evil one. That’s easy to determine. The crucial point is to protect yourself from mortal mind’s unwanted discards by strengthening the perimeters of your mental fence with an increased understanding of God’s ever-active Love that does not tolerate anger, hate, or ill-will.

In a right state of spiritual mindedness, anything mortal mind tries to throw in your “yard” will be thrown right back again before touching the ground.

So, it’s important to know what you own and what you don’t own. You’ve been given only the good, the beautiful, the pure, the healthy, and the spiritual to experience and think about. Claim ownership of those heavenly possessions! Disease, sin, and death beliefs are to be thrown right back again and not held on to.

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” Mary Baker Eddy