To think those things that are right

So. Because I'm weird that way, I was struck by yesterday's Collect of the Day. Here's the guts of the thing:

"Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them."

And I thought, how often does the "doing" come first, and then the "thinking"? Not that that is necessarily bad, though it can lead to self-justification after the fact. But I find it to be true that I often don't think about a thing before I am faced with the action to do. Does action only follow thought? And what happens when I behave thoughtlessly? Is it always bad?

Then, if I do actually think about a thing before the action is demanded, how often can we only think those things that are right part-way, not knowing exactly what's right until we do the thing? How many times are we just guessing that what we think is right and act on it? How often can we only know later on whether or not we did the right thing?

Which is, I suppose, where the inspiration of God part comes in. Because surely we think those things that are wrong from time to time; it's silly to assume otherwise. So how do we let the inspiration of God come in? To me this speaks of the need to ponder, to stew, to digest, to be tentative. But then again, I'm not totally sure about that. But I suspect that it's in not walling up the crevices in my thoughts that will allow the inspiration of God to seep in. At least that's my hope.